Insurrection of the Shooting Star
by Way of the Sheikah
Summary: When Zero disappeared, the Black Rebellion failed. In the year 2018 a.t.b., the Holy Empire of Britannia remains unopposed, ruling over Area Eleven with an iron fist. However, the world is about to change. A demon will reawaken from his slumber, and a young soldier from a parallel universe will join him and his cause. The rebellion is finished...but the insurrection has just begun.
1. Prologue: A Fragile Peace

**DISCLAIMER: I do not own Gundam Wing or Code Geass. Both are copyright of their respective owners and creators. Both belong to Sunrise, and Code Geass also belongs to Clamp. This story is completely non-profit and exists only for entertainment and personal writing development purposes only. No copyright infringement is intended or encouraged.**

* * *

"When war is dehumanized, both victory and defeat become miserable, and God no longer lends a helping hand."

_-Treize Khushrenada, late leader of the World Nation. Christmas Eve, A.C. 195_

_**With high expectations, human beings leave Earth to begin a new life in space colonies. However, the United Earth Sphere Alliance gains great military powers, and soon seizes control of one colony after another in the name of "justice" and "peace."**_

_**The year was After Colony 195. Operation Meteor.**_

_**In a move to counter the Alliance's tyranny, rebel citizens of certain colonies schemed to bring new arsenals to the Earth, disguising them as shooting stars. However, the Alliance headquarters caught on to this operation.**_

_**These five Gundams, and their young pilots, were originally sent to take revenge for the assassination of Heero Yuy, the late pacifist leader of the colonies. Instead, these pilots were provided with missions, all aimed at crippling the mysterious Alliance organization known as OZ.**_

_**OZ, its leader Treize Khushrenada, and its backers, the aristocratic Romefeller Foundation, worked in the shadows of the Alliance military before taking center stage in a bloody coup de tat. Under the guise of peace, OZ befriended the colonies. And for a time, the Gundams and their pilots, found themselves fighting for a reason to exist in the ever-changing world.**_

_**These chaotic series of events all became part of what would be known in years to come as the **_**One Year War**_**; a time where multiple factions vied for total dominance of the Earth, and space.**_

_**It all came down to a final battle on Christmas Eve, when the White Fang, a radical band of colonist revolutionaries, was defeated by the combined efforts of the Gundams, and Earth's World Nation forces led by the late Treize Khushrenada. One particular Gundam, the Gundam Wing Zero, single-handedly destroyed a piece of the White Fang's massive battleship Libra as it plummeted toward the Earth, effectively preventing an everlasting winter that would have rendered the planet completely uninhabitable.**_

_**Despite a long, arduous path filled with bloodshed and tragedy, the events of the **_**One-Year-War **_**resulted in an immediate cease of hostilities between the Earth and the colonies. Thus, a new golden era of peace was born.**_

_**And now, the year After Colony 196. The newly-created Earth Sphere Unified Nation, has succeeded in not only establishing strong political ties with the colonies, but also in officially eradicating the last of all weapons called "Mobile Suits." Together, the Earth and the colonies were looking forward to a future of military disarmament, and peaceful coexistence.**_

_**However, as long as humanity exists, there will always be battles...**_

* * *

_**L3-Controlled Space, Sol System  
August 20th, A.C. 196  
02:22 hours, Standard Sol Time**_

The rays of the sun gently kissed the metallic surface of the carrier shuttle that neared the deserted natural resource satellite MO-VI; an area that was barely within the jurisdiction of colonies in the L3 sector of space. All was quiet for the moment. The carrier had shut off all propulsion systems as it lazily drifted toward its destination.

The youth inside the carrier stared silently at the jagged-shaped satellite, his expression tranquil but his Prussian blue eyes careful and calculating.

He glanced back down at the thermal scanner, which showed a wireframe diagram of the satellite. Temperature readings showed faint traces of heat emitting throughout the complex, especially from the core. So much for MO-VI being yet another forgotten relic from the war.

_Sensors show two shuttles docked on the outside of the satellite. No other craft detected,_ the youth frowned.

He had no name, at least not one that he could remember. Nor did he have a family to return to; the only ones that came close were long dead. Those who knew him called him the "Perfect Soldier," while the other name he had been christened with wasn't even originally his to begin with.

It was a code name from Operation Meteor, that of a dead man: Heero Yuy. He didn't feel worthy of it considering the type of person the original owner was, but others would disagree. After all, he did save the Earth from destruction eight months ago. And only at the young age of sixteen.

Since that day, the five Gundam pilots had gone their separate ways. Duo Maxwell, the self-proclaimed "Shinigami" and pilot of Deathscythe Hell, had returned to his home colony in the L2 area to continue his junkyard business with his girlfriend, Hilde Schbeiker. Trowa Barton, the elusive pilot of Heavyarms, also had a home to return to at a travelling circus with his adopted sister, Catherine Bloom. Sandrock's pilot, Quatre Raberba-Winner, was still consulting with his sisters in order to sort out his family's corporate empire. That left Chang Wufei, who hadn't been seen in months. He took off in Altron (or as he liked to call his Gundam, "Nataku") one day without any explanation. It was as if he'd vanished from the face of the Solar System.

That only left Heero to watch over things from afar, not to mention the person he continued to protect. Relena Peacecraft, now back to being Relena Darlin and taking on her adopted father's position as Vice-Foreign Minister, was working tirelessly to jumpstart a terra-formation project on the planet Mars while acting as the heart of friendly relations between the Earth and the various colony delegates at the same time.

It was a tiresome job, watching over her. And it was a duty that came with plenty of enemies and unwanted attention, but so far Heero had neutralized every hostile that dared to threaten her. It was his new mission in life, one that came with preserving this new age of peace that they had all fought so hard for. He had promised to protect her, and he meant it. Whether that was all there was to their relationship remained to be...decided.

Of course, he wasn't the only one devoted to keeping the peace. There was the Unified Nation's Preventer agency, but they were still new to the game. In fact, the Preventers were the very reason why Heero was here in the first place; all thanks to former Alliance Major Sally Po.

At first he had declined the mission, thinking it another ruse to join their ranks, but when Po had mentioned something about colony rumors involving smugglers with Mobile Suits that looked like OZ's old Taurus models, he decided to check it out. The forwarded paycheck wasn't too shabby either come to think of it. It would help with refueling and repair costs further down the road.

And so here he was, drifting through space in a carrier shuttle he had bought a few months back and now called home (at least for now). Luckily for him, it looked like the rumors actually had some substance this time.

Heero switched to autopilot controls and resealed his helmet over his unkempt mess of brunette hair. Perhaps it was time to head out in Zero.

* * *

_**Natural Resource Satellite "MO-VI," Sol System  
August 20th, A.C. 196  
02:25 hours, Standard Sol Time**_

The bright, red lights flashed in sync with the alarm that sounded throughout the resource satellite. Ruffian smugglers rushed by as they yelled at each other to shut down all factory systems, but Commander Zeke Phillips paid them no mind. He calmly walked down the steel hallway and boarded the elevator at the end. He was a patient, bearded man in black dressed in a long leather trench coat, tactical pants, and dress shoes he stole from some businessman he bartered with several years ago.

This was supposed to be a simple smuggler job, especially for a former OZ major like himself. Construct and move a few new and leftover Tauruses onto civilian shuttles that would journey to the new colony in the area, L3-X18999, and decommission the satellite next month when they were finished. He wasn't told what the Mobile Suits were for; not that he really cared. Jobs for retired soldiers were hard to come by nowadays, not to mention that his employer, Dekim Barton, was a careful and ruthless man. Those who crossed him never lived to tell about it.

The command staff, all dressed in the red uniforms of Dekim's men, were shouting orders to each other over the alarm from their stations. The bridge officer approached Zeke and saluted.

"What's with all the noise?" he asked.

"Sir, thermal scans show what looks like a carrier shuttle parked just inside our outer defensive perimeter."

"Preventers?"

"We're not sure, sir. No markings were detected on the hull. That's not the only thing though."

"Why?'

"The carrier's shut down all propulsion systems. It's just drifting out there."

_Could be a ruse, _Zeke thought. "I want a boarding party to head out and investigate. Capture any personnel on board that carrier and bring them back here. Once you're done, set off the self-destruct and make it look like an accident. No need to attract more unwanted attention."

"Commander!" one of the radar crew shouted. "The carrier's opened its rear hatch. Sensors detect an object was released from it and it's heading this way at a great speed."

"Visual?"

"Putting it on screen, sir. It's flying against the sun, so the picture's a bit blurry. It looks like some kind of shuttle."

The map that had been displayed on the large screen at the front of the room turned into a picture. The object was small, but shaped like no kind of shuttle he had ever seen. It almost looked and flied like a bird, if such a feat were possible.

"Are you sure it's a shuttle?" Zeke asked.

"Well, sir, it's quite _small_ to be a shuttle..."

"Have you tried hailing it?"

"I've tried warning him this is a restricted area, but the pilot won't respond!"

Zeke hissed through his teeth. _I really didn't want to do this._

"Change of plans, then. Send out the Tauruses and take out that shuttle. I want no survivors."

* * *

Heero ignored the communication hail from the satellite and switched off the alert on his radio. Whoever they were, they obviously weren't expecting company.

Sally's request was clear: avoid unnecessary casualties and only investigate, not engage, though those orders changed if he encountered any enemy Mobile Suits. If hostile, all Mobile Suits were to be destroyed on sight, no questions asked.

Wing Zero's spherical console flashed in alarm, alerting him to new enemies. He input a few commands into the keyboard and a screen popped up on his right view screen.

Five formations of three triangular, purple spacecraft were approaching from the satellite. He'd recognize them anywhere: OZ's Taurus Mobile Suits. The thermals showed nothing where the cockpit should be, which only meant one thing.

_Mobile Dolls._

"Enemy Mobile Suits approaching. Taurus Mobile Dolls confirmed," he said out loud, mostly for the cockpit recording he would analyze later. "Primary mission objective altered. Proceeding with destruction of Mobile Doll forces and smuggler-controlled Natural Resource Satellite MO-VI."

* * *

"Have the Mobile Dolls reached the target yet?"

"They've just gotten the target within firing range."

Zeke watched with a mix of fascination and pride as the Taurus Mobile Dolls transformed from small aircraft into humanoid shapes, complete with legs, a three-pronged head with a golden, square "face" in the center, and all armed with high-energy beam rifles.

Without hesitation all five groups rushed toward the small shuttle, raising their beam rifles as their faces turned from gold to a chilling blood-red. A flurry of bright, yellow blasts of ionized energy flew toward the single target. The large screen switched back to a map of the area. The blip that marked where the object had been flashed another moment before disappearing.

"Enemy has been neutralized."

Zeke let out the breath he had been holding. Another potential problem dealt with.

"Good, now order the Tauruses to destroy that carrier also. Let's hope we didn't make too much noise that—"

"W-wait! What is that?!"

"Huh?"

The blip had returned to the map, emitting different energy readings. And they were growing exponentially.

"Do we have visual again?" Zeke asked.

The screen changed back to where the shuttle had been, though this time Zeke could see it clearly. It most definitely wasn't a shuttle. In fact, it look more like a _Mobile Suit_...

He was fascinated as it transformed in front of his eyes. Parts behind the front rotated, forming white legs and crimson feet. The torso rotated also, revealing a blue body with a bright green jewel in the center, and the thrusters on top folded in and formed what looked like wings. The bird-like "head" was attached to its left arm; in its right it held a massive, double beam cannon.

But what caught his attention the most was the head. "Ears," a four-pronged, golden crown. And an expressionless face with jade-filled, hateful eyes.

Those eyes...he had seen the face before, many times in fact. It was a type of Mobile Suit that struck dread into even the bravest of soldiers. He had heard tales about them, but he had prayed he would never actually see one of them in person.

"My God...IT'S TRANSFORMING!" the bridge officer screamed. "IT'S A GUNDAM!"

The Gundam stayed perfectly erect, facing the satellite but not moving.

"FIRE! FIRE! _FIRE!_" Zeke shrieked as the Mobile Dolls fired their beam cannons at it. Before the deadly bombardment could reach its target, the Gundam was off in a flash. Thrusters moved it through space like a speeding comet as it twisted and rotated through the barrage of beam fire. Two hidden compartments opened from both sides of the neck, revealing twin Vulcan cannons. The bullets tore through the lead Taurus on the first trio like tissue paper while the other two twisted to the left. The Gundam lifted its beam cannon at the evading pair and fired a short golden burst, destroying the rest of the group. Another Taurus trio came in at close range. Immediately the Gundam locked the beam cannon to its shield and took out a small object that popped out from its left shoulder.

Zeke watched in horror as a beam saber ignited from the object and cleaved two of the Mobile Dolls in half, destroying them in a fiery blaze. The other fired at it, but the beams glanced off its Gundanium alloy like it was a minor annoyance. The suit took off for the third Taurus and destroyed it just as easily, the reflexes of the pilot far outmatching the programming of the Mobile Dolls.

"Do we know which Gundam it is?"

"Identity confirmed, sir. It's Wing Zero!"

"Christ," Zeke cursed under his breath. Of all the ones he had to encounter, why did it have to be the one that destroyed an entire piece of a space battleship by itself with one hit?

"But what's it doing here?" an officer asked.

"It's obvious, isn't it? It seems the Gundams are on to our little operation," Zeke said.

"We've lost sixty percent of the Mobile Dolls engaging Wing Zero."

"Send out all remaining Mobile Dolls, including the Virgos!"

"But Commander, those Virgos are all that remain of the White Fang's surplus from the Lunar Base," the bridge officer argued. "We need Director Barton's explicit permission!"

"Doesn't matter, we're dead either way. Send out the Virgos and try to establish contact with Mr. Barton while you're at it!"

"Yes, sir!"

* * *

Heero slashed through another Taurus Mobile Doll and turned for the final two in the attack group when Zero alerted him to new mobiles launched from MO-VI. A few more Tauruses entered the battlefield, but the majority were a different model.

They were larger than the Tauruses and painted green and black. The shoulders were dotted with small shield generators and massive energy cannons were attached to their left arms. The Perfect Soldier recognized the newer models instantly.

_Virgos. A bit harder to deal with, _he thought grimly. _I'll get 'em._

"New enemies approaching. Switching tactics; engaging enemy Virgo Mobile Dolls," Heero said as he kicked Wing Zero's Vernie engines to full and rushed at them as quick as lightning with the beam saber. The weapon crackled as it met the energy shield of a Virgo, negating it completely. The Mobile Doll turned and fired. Heero lurched back as he pulled Wing Zero away from the blasts.

He deactivated the beam saber and took the buster rifle back from the shield; or rather, one half of it. The rifle split neatly down the middle. Heero moved both rifles to each side of Zero, charging each one to their maximum energy output. Bright, golden energy surged from each rifle, engulfing several Virgos and destroying both shields and suits. Heero spun Wing Zero around in a circular arc, letting the beam sweep the battlefield and destroy anything else caught in its path.

To his satisfaction, multiple red, square targets disappeared from the spherical console. He couldn't help the short laugh that came out. The rush of battle always filled him with an excitement unlike any other. Zero's power was definitely something to admire and fear; it wasn't the first time he was grateful that the suit's ZERO System had chosen him as its pilot. Lesser pilots had been driven to the point of insanity under its straining effects. It took every ounce of self-control he had to master the system completely during the war.

"Eighty percent of Mobile Doll units destroyed. Continuing with mission," Heero reported, back to his usual stoic self.

* * *

Zeke was relieved when Dekim Barton actually answered their distress call. The Gundam had defeated all Mobile Dolls on the field and was turning in their direction.

_"Commander Phillips, is there a problem?"_

"Sir, we're under attack by the Gundam known as Wing Zero. It's destroyed almost all of our Mobile Doll forces here!"

_"Peh, those stupid kids,"_ Dekim muttered to himself. He looked back at Zeke. _"What do you propose we do then, Commander?"_

"Sir, if we can keep the Gundam busy with our remaining Mobile Dolls for a few more minutes, I could probably evacuate most of the men onto the two remaining shuttles. It might be a long shot, but—"

_"...No."_

Zeke was taken off-guard. "...Sir?"

_"No. None of you will evacuate. I don't want the Preventers or the Gundams catching on to what we're planning."_

"But sir, at this rate he'll destroy this entire satellite!"

_"True, but not if I do the job myself, first! I'm remotely detonating the core of MO-VI from here."_

"WHAT?! Are you insane?! We didn't sign up for this!"

_"You failed me, Commander, and failure is not an option where Operation Meteor is concerned," _Dekim sneered._"Consider it an honor to be the first to sacrifice yourself in the pursuit of a new age under the great Mariemaia!"_

Those were the last words Zeke Phillips and the rest of MO-VI heard before a white light consumed them all.

* * *

Heero neatly sliced the last Virgo in half before he turned his sights to MO-VI. He was surprised neither docked shuttle had made an attempt at escape. Normally the presence of a Gundam would have soldiers fleeing for their lives. Either they were well-disciplined, or they had another ace up their sleeve.

Zero alerted him to another call. He was just about to disconnect the radio entirely when he saw the frequency code. Long distance, and through an encoded Preventer channel. He pressed a switch and received the call. Sally Po's face appeared on a small view screen to his left.

_"Heero, what's your status? Did you verify any truth to those rumors?"_

"The rumors were true. I just engaged and destroyed enemy Taurus and Virgo Mobile Doll forces launched from MO-VI."

Po muttered a curse, rubbing a hand on her temple. _"Great, the L3 delegates will love this. What about the satellite?"_

"No sign of escape. Enemy still has two shuttles docked. I was about to infiltrate and disable the satellite before more Mobile Dolls were released to threaten colonies in the area."

_"No Heero, you can't take them all on by yourself. Secure the space around the satellite and I'll send out a strike team from the colonies."_

Heero narrowed his gaze, the soldier in him coming alive. "The enemy could escape well before reinforcements arrive. It'd be more prudent to disable the satellite from the inside now before it poses even more of a threat to the L3 colonies and causes a political incident."

_"I won't argue with you about this Heero, you need backup. I have no doubt you could take it out single-handedly, but the leaders in there could destroy valuable evidence by the time you're done. Smuggler activity has been getting worse, and colony delegates from all sectors are becoming concerned; we need something solid to show them. If we can interrogate some of those smugglers, we'd have a great shot at finding out who's behind it all. We could even—"_

Zero's alarm blared through the cockpit, redirecting Heero's attention to the satellite. Small explosions were emitting from the outer rocky shell.

_"What's going on?"_

Heero checked the thermal readings. "Small explosions detected from within the satellite. Thermal readings show the core of MO-VI is heating up rapidly. It's in meltdown."

_"Are you sure you didn't accidently fire at—"_

"Negative. I've ceased my assault."

He guided Zero back from the outer blast radius as he watched MO-VI glow a faint red before it blew, spewing debris in all directions and taking both shuttles and every smuggler with it.

"Target has self-destructed."

"_Dammit,"_ Po muttered with a sigh.

"I'm returning to the carrier, then going in for a closer look."

_"Roger, I'll send Preventer forces in the area to your location. Maybe we can still find something worth salvaging that I can show Miss Une."_

"Understood."

Heero killed the connection and transformed Wing Zero to Mobile Armor mode, speeding back to the shuttle. The cockpit's ZERO System illuminated him in a bright light.

Heero nodded as the light faded. "Yes, I know that Zero. Smugglers are usually cowards that would do anything to save their own lives. Plus, those satellites aren't designed to self-destruct from the inside like that."

_And if so, that detonation must have been remote; someone wants to cover their tracks,_ Heero thought as he neared his carrier.

* * *

Another hour went by before Heero moved into the debris field. Guiding the large carrier was tricky work, even for an expert like himself. Mobile Suit parts, twisted titanium plating and pieces of rock littered the area MO-VI had once orbited.

Heero eased the carrier to a drift as he searched the debris field outside the cockpit window. Nothing.

He used the carrier's retractable claw to catch a piece of rock. His fingers typed almost as fast as the data that cascaded down the blue screen of his laptop. A diagram of the fragment appeared on the screen with readouts pointing to various parts of it. Heero studied the data carefully.

_No irregularities on the surface. Fragment is comprised of hardened titanium alloy found in most natural resource satellites,_ he read.

He frowned as the claw released the small fragment back into space and retracted into the carrier. He had a hunch that he wouldn't find anything of use here unless MO-VI had a black box floating around somewhere, as was customary on most publicly-operated natural resource satellites. It was likely that the smugglers would have known that also and removed it. If so, that meant that he was back to square one with no leads at all. Damn.

_No point in lingering around here, Preventer forces will arrive soon anyway. I should return to the nearest L3 colony and see if I can find out anything else. Maybe Trowa has some new information._

He moved to reactivate the carrier's thrusters and turn the spacecraft around when a shimmering emerald light from his left caught his attention. It was shaped like an oval and fairly thin, glowing even brighter than the far-off stars in outer space.

For one of the few times in his life, Heero was dumbfound. The light was serene, reaching out as if it were inviting him into it.

The perimeter alarm was the only thing that broke his trance. It repeated in his ears as he felt the carrier lurch. He looked at the mass. The debris nearest it was being sucked in like a vacuum, disappearing into nothingness once it went through the light. Was it some kind of black hole?

The Perfect Soldier grabbed the controls and ignited the thrusters, struggling to turn the carrier around. He pushed the lever to maximum, weaving the large carrier back and forth as fast as it would allow. He used all his weight to move the U-shaped joystick forward, but he felt the carrier slowly being sucked back into the light.

Another alarm sounded. Two engines had overheated and blown. He activated emergency boosters and gritted his teeth. His only shot was blasting out of the carrier with Zero.

He unbuckled himself from his seat, opened the cargo bay doors and went to run for Wing Zero. Before he could reach the door to the cargo bay, the carrier jolted again and he was knocked into the air.

The last thing he remembered was his helmet smacking into the wall before all went dark.

* * *

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

**-Way of the Sheikah Presents: A Crossover Fan Fiction Project-**

**Code Geass R2: Lelouch of the Rebellion**

**and**

**Mobile Suit Gundam Wing:**

_**Insurrection of the Shooting Star**_

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx


	2. Mission 01

"All men...are not created equal. Some are born swifter of foot, some with greater beauty. Some are born into poverty; others are born sick and feeble. Both in birth and upbringing in sheer scoop of ability that, every human is inherently different! Yes, that is why people discriminate against one another, which is why there is struggle, competition, and the unfaltering march of progress! Inequality is not wrong, equality is! What of the E.U. who made equality a right? Rabble politics by a popularity contest. The Chinese Federation with its equal distribution of wealth? A nation of lazy dullards. But not our beloved Britannia.

We fight, we compete; evolution is continuous! Britannia alone moves forward; advancing steadily into the future. Even with the death of my son Clovis, demonstrates Britannia's unswerving commitment to progress! We will fight on, we shall struggle, compete, plunder, and dominate. And in the end, the future shall be ours! All Hail Britannia!"

-_Charles zi Britannia, 98th Emperor of the Holy Britannian Empire, 2017 a.t.b._

_**Area Eleven, once known as Japan.**_

_**In August of the year 2010 a.t.b, the Holy Britannian Empire staged an invasion that overwhelmed the former nation, stripping it of its name, its freedom, its culture, and enslaving its people.**_

_**Seven years later, a young boy named Lelouch vi Britannia gained a power that saved his life; one that could allow the user to change the world. Geass, the Power of the King.**_

_**A forgotten prince, forsaken and used for political gain by his cruel father, the Emperor, Lelouch swore vengeance against Britannia and the family that had taken not only his mother's life, but his sister's legs and sight. He conspired to destroy the world and build a new one in its place; one where his gentle sister could live in peace and happiness.**_

_**Using his newfound power, he created a new identity; a masked vigilante known only as Zero. Zero's influence won over a group of Japanese freedom fighters. Together, they formed the Order of the Black Knights, a group established to fight against the strong to protect the weak. Under Zero's charismatic leadership and genius in the art of war, the Black Knights scored victory after victory against Britannia and quickly gained the support and adoration of the Japanese people. After a brutal massacre in the Special Administrative Zone proposed by the late Princess Euphemia li Britannia, the Japanese rallied behind the Black Knights and instigated the largest uprising against the Empire yet-the Black Rebellion.**_

_**But just as their goal, the reestablishment of Japan, was near, the Black Knights were abandoned by Zero.**_

_**The Black Rebellion failed. Lost without their guiding light, the Black Knights were defeated and scattered. Unopposed and unforgiving, Britannia tightened its rule over Area Eleven and its other colonies around the world. Destitute, beaten, and in even worse condition than before, the Japanese despaired.**_

_**But now, in the year 2018 a.t.b., one year after Zero's disappearance, history is about to be written once again.**_

_**My name is C.C. And this, is the story of an insurrection.**_

* * *

**-Mission 01: The Demon and the Perfect Soldier-**

_**Classified Location, Pacific Ocean  
July 18th, 2018 a.t.b. (Ascension Throne Britannia), Imperial Calendar  
21:56, local time**_

_Drip...drip...drip..._

That bloody pipe was leaking again.

Renard couldn't take it anymore. The Britannian snapped the _PlayBunny_ magazine in his hands shut and swung his polished boots off the oak desk. "Chavez, get your lazy ass in here!"

The door with the barred square window swung open as Renard's jailer (a.k.a. slave) Chavez scurried into the Warden's office. Chavez was a portly man of 30, with stumpy legs and a round face. Panic shown clear through his beady eyes. The Warden was pissed; this was never good. He hoped he wouldn't get the whip again; last time it took almost a week for the lashes to finally stop aching. He snapped to attention and forced a shaky hand to salute his superior.

"Sir, yes sir Warden, s-sir!"

"There you are, you lazy Three sack of shit! You come when I call you next time, you hear me?"

Chavez nodded earnestly, remaining at attention. Renard nodded and Chavez lowered his trembling hand.

"I want to know when that damn maintenance crew is supposed to arrive here, that pipe is driving me bat-shit crazy!"

"Umm..." Chavez started, "the H-Homeland said it would be a, f-few more days before the s-supply ship reached us from p-p-Pearl Harbor."

"What about yesterday? Why the fucking delay?!"

"I-I'm not sure, I..." the jailer trailed off. He squeaked when Chavez rushed up to him and grabbed the front of his uniform.

"You listen to me you Three scum, I explicitly told you to tell them to hurry their asses up! We need those supplies out here now and I want that leak fixed!"

"B-but sir, I d-did..."

"No you didn't! If you did they'd already be here!" Renard yelled, his face an ugly shade of purple. He shoved the terrified Three against the wall and grabbed him by the scruff of his messy uniform.

"You work for me! What, just because you're an Honorary Britannian now, you think you're automatically on my level?" He took a deep breath, a cruel smirk coming to his lips. "What was it Area Three used to call itself again? Mex-something?"

"M-Mexico, sir..."

"And that is your home, is it not?"

"Y-yes sir."

"You know, the viceroy there owes me a favor. If I send just the tiniest little word to him about how troublesome I find the Three slave that he sent to me, he might just have that certain Three's entire family arrested. And well, who could say what he might have done to them..."

"No, please don't!" Chavez begged. _"¡Por favor! ¡No perjudica mi família!"_

"Shut up!" Renard slapped him and threw the chubby man onto the spotless red carpet, furious. "What did I tell you about speaking in that...that disgusting language of yours!"

"I-I'm sorry sir, I..."

"You dare to—"

Before he could reach for his bullwhip, the door to Renard's office opened again. Two guards walked in and stood at attention, paying no heed to Chavez's cowering figure on the floor. The Warden's short temper was well-known to everyone. It was the reason Chavez was here in the first place; aside from the fact that Chavez was accused of stealing and forced to work here as punishment, that is. The last jailer was an Eleven, and he committed suicide after two years of serving at this God-forsaken prison.

"What is it?" Renard growled, turning to face the guards.

"Sir, we found an intruder in the jungle."

An intruder? This was a new one. "A spy from the E.U.? Chinese Fed? Terrorist? Tell me, you maggots!"

"We're not sure, sir. He was found unconscious and in some kind of pilot's suit about four hours after that unconfirmed explosion that was reported earlier today. I had one of my men drag him to a cell and await your orders. We are the only ones who know about him so far."

Renard sighed and strode past the two guards at a brisk pace. They followed at a jog, leaving Chavez whimpering on the floor as the door slammed shut behind them.

Great, not another bloody problem to deal with.

"Where did you take him?" Renard asked as he put on a grey, faded hat and pinned a badge to his matching military uniform that denoted his rank.

"A vacant cell in cell block D, a few rows down from the _Exile_, sir."

Renard growled; the memory of dealing with those damn OSI spooks a few days earlier still had him fuming.

_They think they're so high and mighty because they answer directly to our Emperor that they can tell me how to run _my _prison_?!_More time for preparations at Area Eleven, my ass! I'll be glad once that airship from Pearl arrives to take that teenage brat off my hands. Whoever he is._

One of the guards swiped his card and opened another door, the sign above it reading "**CELL BLOCK D" **in bold, red lettering. The group walked down the hallway, ignoring the cries and curses from inmates of different Areas, all enemies of the empire. The other guard used his card at the hallway's end and opened the door, taking them to the high security section of the block.

There weren't any inmates there, save for the Exile. Renard and his men paid him no attention as they walked by the two guards outside the cell, not even acknowledging when they saluted as he passed. His guard opened yet another door. They passed through a thick, sound-proof wall as they opened the other door. This part of Block D was reserved exclusively for troublesome prisoners.

The group walked down the row of empty cells to the last one on the right, where the body of a brunette teen was laid on the floor, unconscious and hands bound in handcuffs to the front of his blue pilot suit. A guard standing over the teen saluted as Renard and his men entered the cell, standing in a circle around their latest prisoner.

"What do we know?"

"Nothing, I'm afraid," the guard shook his head. "He looks to be about seventeen, Eleven judging by the looks of him, but I'm not sure. There was no ID or anything on him at all. Just a helmet."

"Was he armed?"

"No."

Renard crouched down on his haunches and stared at the captive. He looked innocent enough, though how he found his way to this isolated shithole of an island was beyond him. Unless he was a Black Knight...

_If so,_ he thought, _he might be here for the prisoners. Not all Black Knights were caught after the Rebellion, after all. Was this some kind of rescue attempt?_

"Your orders, sir?"

The Warden rose to his feet and looked at his men. "We'll give him over to the spooks when they arrive from Pearl. They can take him along with the Exile back to Area Eleven. If he wakes up, we'll interrogate him. He may look young but he could be working for the E.U., or even the remnants of that terrorist organization from Area Eleven. So until I tell you otherwise, stay alert and keep this to yourselves."

What Renard didn't expect was the prisoner to suddenly smash his face in with both feet.

* * *

Heero Yuy had actually been conscious for a solid four minutes, though he hadn't dared move. When he heard the boots march in front of his feet and felt only his hands handcuffed together, he knew he had a chance at escape.

Heero waited until the man with the commanding voice was right in front of him and moved on instinct with extraordinary reflexes. He swung his eyes open and kicked the blonde man in front of him in the face with his boots and leapt to his feet. Before the other guards around him could react, he crouched down on his bound hands and swept both of his legs together in a wide arc, knocking them all down. He ran to one guard and smashed his neck in with a boot at full force, killing him instantly. The other guard went down with another kick. After that, he barreled into the third one, knocking his machine gun away. Heero dove and grabbed it just as the blonde rose to his feet, drawing his sidearm. Heero switched off the safety and pulled the trigger without hesitation, the spray of bullets gunning down the man easily. The other two went for their own pistols. Heero fired again. Both slumped to the ground. None of the bodies moved.

He felt the tiniest tinge of regret that he had to kill them all, but he ignored it. He had no idea where he was or what happened after that ray of light sucked him, Wing Zero and the carrier into it. And what in the hell was Area Eleven?

All he knew was that he was in a jail cell, in what was likely some kind of prison. Without Wing Zero. Though if the conversation he had just heard was accurate, the enemy didn't have possession of his Gundam either.

_And even if they did, they'd get a nasty surprise when the self-destruct activated by itself,_ he thought with a grim smile. Nobody touched his Mobile Suit without him, especially because it was Wing Zero.

He pushed his concerns aside. Right now survival and escape were his primary objectives, and no doubt the gunfire had alerted more hostiles.

He located a guard's key and snapped off both handcuffs, watching them hit the floor with a loud _clang_. He rubbed his sore wrists before pick pocketing the bodies, taking spare ammo and anything else he might find useful.

He undressed a guard that was closest to his height and build and took off his spacesuit, grabbing the guard's ID card and machine gun after donning his uniform. He also took the blonde's sidearm and holster and attached it to his belt.

_Hmm, looks like an MP5,_ he thought, examining the machine gun and checking the magazine. The pistol was nothing special, though it did have a laser sight attached below the muzzle. He holstered it and secured the machine gun over his right shoulder. He took off the safety and set it to burst fire mode. Full auto was far too cumbersome for his liking.

Satisfied, he walked out of the cell, curious as to why no alarms had been set off yet.

* * *

"Damn, I'm _**so**_ bored," a muscular Britannian yawned. "If I don't see any action soon, I'm gonna stab my eyes out or some shit."

"Yeah, I know what you mean," said his partner, a lanky Britannian with a scruffy face. Sure, the look wasn't technically allowed, but the Warden was far too busy bitching and beating that sorry-assed Three all the time to notice when someone's been neglecting to shave.

The muscular one jabbed his thumb to the figure that laid unconscious on the wooden plank that barely passed for a bed. "So what's the deal with the kid?"

"Beats me," the lanky one said. "Warden said to guard him carefully, that's all I heard."

"But he's only a schoolboy. What's he done to be in here?"

"Dunno, but the higher-ups had a good reason. I don't ask questions, especially if the orders are from the Warden. You know how he gets."

"Yeah," the muscular one trailed off. Silence lingered in the air for a few more minutes before the door at the end of the hallway opened. A thin young man with unkempt brunette hair walked through, stoic as a statue with a standard-issue machine gun strapped across his shoulders. What caught the two guards' attention however, was his face.

_An Eleven?_ the lanky one thought. He stepped forward into the new arrival's path.

"Hey, you! Eleven! What are you doing down here?"

The Eleven stopped, his eyes meeting the lanky one's.

"On patrol," he said, as if it were the most obvious thing in the world.

"Patrol?" the muscular guard piped up. "There won't be another patrol down here for an hour. What rotation are you? Don't think just because you're an Honorary Brittanian you'll get any special treatment from us!"

The Eleven didn't respond.

"Hey, we asked you a question, Eleven!" the lanky one yelled, jabbing a finger into the man. "We're native Britannians; way above you colony rats! Answer his—"

The Eleven grabbed his hand and twisted the arm around as he grabbed the lanky one, causing him to drop his machine gun. The Eleven pushed his own machine gun behind his back and withdrew a pistol, holding it firmly against the lanky guard's temple. The muscular one had his own machine gun up, pointing directly at the pair.

"Unhand him now, Eleven!"

"Drop it."

"I don't take orders from Numbers!"

"Drop it, or he dies."

The lanky man's eyes went wide. The Eleven pressed the muzzle of the pistol harder against his head but kept his cool eyes fixed on the other guard.

"Time's up. I'll say it again—drop it."

The muscular guard swore under his breath as he lowered his weapon to the ground and raised his hands.

"Kick it over here and keep your hands up."

The guard grumbled again as he casually kicked it across the room in the Eleven's direction. As soon as he did the Eleven bashed his hostage over the head with his pistol and threw him to the side, limp.

The muscular guard yelled in rage as he rushed at the Eleven. He grabbed at the space where he had been moments before but was confused when he felt a sharp pain in the back of his neck.

Heero lowered his hand and confiscated their weapons before dragging their bodies to a cell. They were out cold, but alive. They had called him "Eleven," just like his captors. Was that code for something?

He frisked them like he had the other guards and stole some ammo before making his way over to the cell they had been guarding.

A teen who looked close to his age was strewn out on an uncomfortable-looking bed, face-down. He had dark hair, fair skin, and was as thin as a toothpick. He was wearing what looked like a school uniform, though it wasn't like any Heero had seen before.

Something wasn't right here. Why would a schoolboy be locked up in a prison of all places and be guarded like this? That alone made the boy a prime source of interest. Perhaps he might even know where this place was.

Heero went back to the guards and took out a key. He locked the door behind him and unlocked the cell that held the schoolboy. He walked over to him, placing two fingers against his neck. Definitely alive, but his pulse was faint, like one would see in the vitals of someone dosed with a sedative.

Heero shook the teen's shoulder. "Hey, wake up."

He was half-surprised to see the teen's purple eyes flicker open right after he was touched. The schoolboy groaned as he tried to sit up.

"Easy there, I think you were sedated. You'll probably feel a bit lethargic at first," Heero said as he helped the teen rise to a sitting position.

"...where...where am I?" he asked, rubbing his eyes and looking around.

"You tell me."

The teen's eyes widened when they wandered toward the cell door. "Oh God, where am I?!"

Heero immediately covered his mouth. "'I'd rather not attract any unnecessary attention, so keep quiet," he muttered.

The teen's eyes locked on to Heero's machine gun and nodded before the hand was removed.

"Good, now tell me what you're doing here."

"I...I..." the teen grit his teeth and grabbed his head with both hands. "Ugh, it hurts!"

Heero kept his eyes fixed on the boy. "Memory loss?"

The teen stopped holding his head before his eyes flickered. "No, I...I thought I was on the train returning from a field trip for the Student Council."

"Student Council?"

"Yeah, at Ashford Academy," the teen said, staring off into space, the memories coming back to him. "I was supposed to see about our class trip to Kawaguchi Lake. The hotel there is still ruined, but there's a few other great resorts we were looking at. I must have fallen asleep on the way back, right after I talked on the phone with my brother, Rolo."

_At least he doesn't have amnesia ,_Heero thought. "Any idea why you're here?"

"No," he replied. "I mean, I sometimes gamble in chess matches with some of the Britannian nobility in the Tokyo Settlement, but I don't think that would get me thrown in here of all places."

He studied Heero for a moment, pursing his lips as if deciding whether or not to say something. "Umm...don't take this the wrong way, but aren't you an Elev—sorry, I mean, Japanese?"

Heero's mouth curved into a slight frown as he stared down the youth. "I suppose I am. Why? What's an _Eleven_?"

"You mean you don't know?"

"If I knew, I wouldn't be asking," Heero deadpanned.

"It's what the Japanese are called, ever since Japan was conquered eight years ago by Britannia and renamed Area Eleven. Wait a moment; are you one of the terrorists?"

Heero looked at him like he was crazy. _Britannia?_ He'd never heard of such a nation, not even before the formation of the old Alliance...never mind. He'd look into it later. It wasn't a mission priority at the moment.

Heero shook his head. "Forget it. Do you remember your name?"

The raven-haired teen looked Heero directly in the eye. He thought he saw something scarlet flicker in the teen's left iris, but it disappeared before he could see it properly.

"You know, I'm not brain damaged," he scoffed. "My name is Lelouch Lamperouge. And I'm guessing you're not really a guard here. Again, are you a terrorist?"

The Perfect Soldier gave him another long, hard look as he decided what to do. Yes, the teen might slow him down a bit; he was as skinny as a twig and he didn't look like he had much stamina. But then again it was obvious he wasn't supposed to be in this prison either. And if what this Lelouch said was true, his knowledge of whatever "Britannia" was supposed to be might come in handy.

It only took a few seconds for Heero to make his decision.

"No I'm not, but I'm leaving this place. You can come with me or stay; it's your choice."

"No point in staying, I have to get back home to Rolo," Lelouch mumbled as he tried to stand, only to stumble and fall back on the flat.

"Can you walk?"

"Not sure," Lelouch muttered. Without another word, Heero hoisted Lelouch's left arm over his shoulders and helped him to his feet.

"Thanks...what's your name?"

The Gundam pilot paused for a moment to think his answer over but continued moving the two of them out of the cell, making sure to support Lelouch while at the same time keeping the MP5 in his right hand trained for any hostiles, or "Britannians" as they called themselves. He already suspected he wasn't on a colony, or the Earth for that matter. At least, not the Earth _he_ knew. He'd never even heard of any organizations named "Britannia," or at least one that was listed in Preventer HQ's extensive online database.

He knew next to nothing about this "Lelouch," but who was he to let a civilian rot in a place like this?

"...Heero Yuy."

* * *

_-Notes-_

**Hello, everyone! Long time no see, eh? For those of you who may remember, I posted this story about a couple years ago or so, but took it down due to where I was in life. Well, since then I've gotten a job, I'm living on my own, and have nearly finished all my other fan fiction projects.**

**Deleting this story was one of my biggest regrets, and I really wanted to post the whole thing for you guys and actually finish it. So here I am, at it again...**

**For those of you new here, welcome! Thank you for checking out "Insurrection of the Shooting Star," an ambitious project of mine that I've been dying to re-post and finish. This will be an obvious Code Geass/Gundam Wing crossover and will take place before and during Code Geass R2. For pairings, it'll be Lelouch and Kallen, with Heero possibly ending up with someone who will help him find his humanity and something more to fight for in life. **

**Questions? Comments? Criticism? Suggestions? Leave a review and let me know. Also, make sure to subscribe and check out my profile periodically for updates. I'll be posting the next chapter in a couple weeks or so, maybe earlier depending on how progress on "Heart of Steel" goes. I'd ideally like to finish it before I start getting to the meat of this story. Thanks for reading!**

**See you next mission,**

**-Sheik**


	3. Mission 02

"I will not repudiate battle on a fair and level field, but neither will I tolerate a one-sided massacre of the weak by the strong. The only ones who should kill are those who are prepared to be killed!"

-_Zero, leader of the Order of the Black Knights, 2017 a.t.b._

* * *

**-Mission 02: Regrets and Hope-**

_To say Kallen Kozuki, Ace of the Black Knights and Zero's personal bodyguard, was surprised by what she saw would be the biggest understatement of the century._

Zero_...her leader; her idol; her shining beacon in this grim, darkened world created by Britannia, stood before her, his mask shattered on the floor. Blood seeped from his forehead; the place where the helmet had absorbed the bullet's impact. His left eye glowed with an ethereal, red-winged symbol. There were no more tricks or illusions; the young, true face of Zero had been revealed for all the world to see._

Lelouch?!

_"But, how?" she uttered, her voice quaking as she fell to her knees, her sidearm forgotten. "How could you?"_

_"I—I didn't want it to be you," Suzaku Kururugi muttered as he stared sadly into the demonic eye of the man he once called his best friend._

_"Le-Lelouch is—" Kallen started. She was completely stunned; it just couldn't be possible!_

_"...Yes. I am Zero, the man who leads the Black Knights, who challenges the Holy Britannian Empire. The one who holds the entire world in his hand."_

_"You used us; the Japanese people? You used _me_?" Kallen said, tears starting to fall from her eyes._

_"And as a result, Japan will be freed," he said, sparing her a glance. "You certainly can't complain about that."_

_"I should have arrested you when I had the chance," Suzaku spat._

_"You knew it was me?"_

_"I wasn't sure at first, so I convinced myself that it wasn't. I really wanted to believe in you. But you were lying to us, to me. Your sister Euphie. And _Nunnally!_"_

_Kallen tried to rise to her feet and walk forward. She stumbled as Lelouch responded, his voice and face calm and emotionless._

_"Yes, and now Nunnally's been kidnapped. Please Suzaku, can't we call a temporary truce? Together we'll be able to save Nunnally. There's nothing in the world that you and I _can't_ do together."_

_"I'm done with that!" Suzaku yelled. "Had you only joined up with Euphie first, we wouldn't be here! If you and she had combined forces, things would be different! The world could have been—"_

_"That's all in the past, over and done with."_

_"Past?!"_

_"You killed your own father, didn't you?!" Lelouch yelled. "Wallow in remorse when you have time for it!"_

_"NO! You're hopeless!"_

_"What?" Lelouch asked, a bit stunned._

_"I know you! In the very end, you'd betray the entire world; the way it's betrayed you! I'm not going to let your sick, twisted dream be realized!"_

_"You fool. You think ideals alone can change the world? Fine! Then go right ahead and shoot me! COME ON!" Lelouch bellowed as he locked a strange device on to his chest with a vial on the front. "Set your aim on this liquid Sakuradite!"_

_Kallen let out a gasp, her body filling with dread._

He wouldn't dream of it! If that explodes...

_"If my heart stops, this vial will explode, taking you with me."_

_"Damn you!" Suzaku cursed._

_"Listen, I'll make a deal with you. I want to know who told you about Geass. Did they abduct Nunnally?"_

_"Nothing that happens now is any of your concern! Your very existence is a mistake! You need to be erased from the face of the Earth! I'll take care of Nunnally!"_

_Lelouch aimed his pistol at Suzaku, his face twisted in pure rage as Suzaku aimed his own. Kallen could only watch on in horror, her body frozen in place._

_"SUZAKU!"_

_"LELOUCH!"_

"NO!"

Kallen screamed as she shot up in bed. The pistol she kept hidden under her pillow was shaking violently in her hand, the barrel pointed right where Suzaku should have been. Her finger was closed tightly over the trigger, but thankfully the safety was still on.

Her eyes darted back and forth in a panic, trying to figure out what was happening before she recognized the familiar iron walls of her quarters.

She lowered the pistol as she placed it back in its hiding place. She pulled her knees together close to her chest and hugged them, the soft covers gently caressing her porcelain skin as she tried to steady her breathing. Her shoulder-length red hair was drenched in sweat, much like her sheets and undergarments were.

After a few moments, she fumbled for the lamp on her nightstand and rubbed the sand out of her eyes before she climbed out of her bed. She slipped a silk blue night robe around her bare shoulders and gingerly walked to the bathroom.

It was that same nightmare, the one she'd had for months now. Only it wasn't a simple bad dream she was having; it was a memory from ten months ago. The last time she had seen Zero...no, Lelouch.

It always ended there, right after that resounding gunshot in the cave. That was where the details of that fateful day grew murky, for Kallen had turned around and ran as fast as she could to the Guren.

She reached the sink and turned on the faucet, cupping her hands together to catch the cool, clear water. She splashed some on her face a few times before looking up into the square mirror.

Yes, she had abandoned Zero to the mercy of Suzaku Kururugi, Princess Euphemia's former chosen knight and the pilot of the Lancelot. All to save herself.

That day was one of the worst of her life, for not only did the Black Knights lose Zero and most of their members, but they lost the fight for Japan as well.

Kaname Oghi, Kyoshiro Tohdoh, Nagisa Chiba, Shinichirō Tamaki...all of them and more were captured by Britannia when reinforcements came. Some of the Black Knight's lower-ranking members had already been executed publicly to serve as a warning to the rest of the Areas, but the leading ones had been spared so far, at least as far as she knew. Britannia had found out that the Six Houses of Kyoto had been secretly supplying arms and supplies to the Black Knights, and all of their leaders were arrested and executed as well. There were rumors that the young Kaguya Sumeragi had managed to escape capture, but Kallen hadn't heard anything else beyond that.

Kallen was one of the few that had managed to escape, and that was only because she had fled like a coward. She, the Black Knight's fearsome ace, had retreated like a dog with its tail between its legs. So far they had evaded capture, but it was only a matter of time before they were forced to show themselves to the world once again. She wasn't sure if Diethard Reid, their former media relations chief, or Rakshata Chawla, their head engineer, had been captured or not. But like Kaguya, she hadn't heard from either of them.

_We're all that's left, and it's all my fault. If only I hadn't abandoned them all to go after Zero; if only Oghi hadn't ordered me to. If only I hadn't left...him._ She refused to think, let alone say, that lying bastard's name.

It was still unthinkable, no matter how many times she thought it over. He was only a student; her classmate and the Vice President of the Student Council. A genius in class, sure, but still an arrogant Britannian, much like the rest of them. And yet at the same time, under a different identity, that same student had been the one to inspire so much hope in her and her friends. He had taken them all the way from a terrorist group to a full-fledged resistance force. They had come so far because of him, to the point where Japan had been on the brink of complete independence from Britannia.

Zero was a blessing, a person who Oghi had truly believed could make her brother Naoto's dream of a free Japan come true. She had even thought once upon a time that he was the only man for her...

She splashed some more water on to her face and turned off the faucet before grabbing a clean towel. She continued staring at herself as she patted her face dry.

_No; it was a lie. All of it._

Despite her anger, she had finally come to grips with who Zero truly was with C.C.'s help (though Kallen wouldn't exactly call the witch's playful hints and vague explanations "help"), but she still had so many questions that needed answering. Of course C.C. wouldn't give her a straight answer like any sane person. Instead, she constantly teased Kallen and merely told her to ask Zero himself about these things when they found him again.

Out of all of C.C.'s revelations though, what had disturbed her the most was learning about his mysterious power. The one she called Geass.

It was the secret behind Zero's so-called miracles. Lelouch's power of "absolute obedience," as C.C. had described it. It certainly pieced the missing parts of the puzzle together, especially considering their luck in the Black Knight's previous battles. But the thought of being ordered to do something that completely disregarded her free will disturbed her to the core.

Were they all under the control of his Geass? Had they been used right from the beginning? What about _her_? Was everything she had done for him so far all because of Geass? Everything she had once foolishly felt for their leader?

The thought alone made her sick. Lelouch had a lot to answer for when she saw him again.

_Dammit! There's his name again,_ Kallen scolded herself. No matter how hard she tried, she couldn't get that stupid Britannian out of her head. Naturally she wondered if it was because of Geass.

Was she still pissed at him for what he did? Definitely, especially for that reckless Sakuradite stunt he pulled. Did she hate him? Despite the endless debates she had endured with herself in the past few months, she still wasn't sure.

But of all the possible feelings she could have, did she actually find herself _missing_ him? Perhaps she really _w__as_ going crazy.

She set the towel down and walked out of the bathroom. She collapsed on to her bed with a sigh. She turned her head to the nightstand, where a framed picture of the Black Knights rested comfortably on the bureau. It was taken a few days before the Special Administrative Zone of Japan massacre that preceded the Black Rebellion. All of the command staff and founding members from her old terrorist cell were there, smiling brightly at the camera. Well, all except Tohdoh, who looked as serious as ever.

Her eyes lingered on Zero, tall and proud at the center of the group, his cape wrapped around his lean figure like a cloak. Kallen stood right next to him, right where she always was back then. His right hand, his second-in-command. _His Q-1._

No—she'd be lying to herself if she said she didn't miss him. It was much worse than that, she _needed_ to talk to him. She needed to know if her feelings and beliefs were her own and not something created by this dark power called Geass. But until Lelouch showed his face again, all she could do was wait patiently and hope that she survived long enough to get some answers.

C.C. had a good idea of what had happened but refused to talk about it, only saying that they had to keep an eye out for him. So far there had been no sign of him at all at Ashford, Japan, Britannia, or anywhere else in the world. And until there was, they had to keep out of sight and bide their time. Thankfully, the submarine she was currently on was perfect for that exact purpose.

Once Zero was back in command, then they'd go after the others. It was the waiting that was the hardest part.

The obnoxious ringing of her bedside phone brought her back to the present. Pushing her thoughts aside for the moment, she picked up the receiver.

"Captain Kozuki here," she said. She listened intently for a few moments before she stopped, her body stiffening.

"Wait, you found _what_?! Hold on, I'll be right there!"

* * *

_**Pacific Ocean, fifty miles east of Area Eleven  
July 18th, 2018 a.t.b., Imperial Calendar  
22:30 local time**_

Kallen rushed on to the bridge as she fastened the top buttons of her Black Knights uniform. She burst through the door and found her fellow Black Knights huddled around a sea chart, mapping out all sorts of calculations and positions.

C.C. briefly looked up and acknowledged her with a nod before returning to the map as Kallen walked closer.

"Are you sure? A short-distance alarm coming from one of the islands?" the redhead asked.

Kosetsu Urabe, the sole remaining member of the Four Holy Swords that hadn't been captured during the Black Rebellion (and their de facto leader for the moment), looked up and gave a solemn nod. "Yes. Sonar picked it up a few minutes ago. It's faint, but we can still trace it to a rough area about five miles or so from our current position."

"What do you think it is?"

Urabe cracked a small smile. "I'm hoping it's that Britannian prison we've been hearing so much about."

Of course Kallen knew the rumors. Their own investigations had proven that Tohdoh and the others weren't being held in Japan, probably to dissuade any sympathizers. Lately there had been talk about Japanese being taken in the middle of the night from the ghettos, supposedly for being Black Knights in disguise. Of course it wasn't true; Kallen was disgusted that their name would be used as a scapegoat by the Britannians in what was actually a way to keep the locals under control.

No one heard from the ones taken ever again, but there was suspicion that the Britannians had constructed an offshore prison, not far from the mainland. With no leads and Britannia scouring every inch of Area Eleven for them, the last of the Black Knights had spent the past few weeks searching for it in the sole remaining vehicle from their glory days—a large submarine they christened the _Zouhan_. (1)

Besides, until Lelouch showed himself again (C.C. was positive he would soon), they couldn't proceed with Operation Flying Swallow Four.

"Was this alarm just detected?" Kallen asked.

"Yes," C.C. responded, looking up again from the map table. "Too bad you were getting your beauty sleep."

Kallen rolled her eyes. "It was your idea, C.C."

"And you wouldn't let me join you," she sighed dramatically with a coy smile and a wink. Kallen shuddered; how could Lelouch stand to be in the same room as this witch, let alone make a contract with her?

"Captains, Miss C.C.! I got it again!" the radar operator cried out.

The three Black Knights gathered around the sonar station. "Can you pinpoint it this time?" Urabe asked.

"Trying..." the operator muttered as he turned a couple of knobs and flipped a few switches.

"Hang on...it's there!"

The blip stayed on the screen; it looked like it was only about three miles from their current position.

Urabe went back to the table and scribbled down some more notes before moving the rulers around again. He gasped.

The Holy Sword couldn't believe it. That signal was originating from an island not far from Kaminejima Island, the place where Kallen and Zero had escaped from in the Gawin a year ago.

"Kiriara Island..." he muttered aloud. It all made sense now. Britannian patrols had stepped up their rounds around that area in the past few weeks. Of course they'd be protecting something of great importance around there.

"What do you think we should do?" Kallen asked.

Urabe stared at the map a bit longer, deep in thought.

'If we risk going in closer, we might be picked up on their radar. However, that alarm means they're obviously distracted by something else. I'm guessing it's a prison break."

He stood up as the small crew looked up to him. "Maintain our present speed and get in closer to the source of that alarm until we can get a visual. Let's pray the Brits haven't called back their patrols."

_"Hai!"_ echoed every Black Knight as the _Zouhan_ turned toward the signal.

_I don't want to get too excited just yet, but I think this might be the chance we've been waiting for,_ Urabe thought. _Let's just hope whoever it is that's causing trouble can keep the Britannians busy for a bit longer._

* * *

_**Pacific Ocean, Kiriara Island Prison  
Unknown date, 2018 a.t.b., Imperial Calendar  
Evening**_

Tamaki was shoved to the ground by another guard as the other kept his machine gun trained on him. The hothead growled as he tried to get back up even though the straightjacket he wore prevented it.

"Dirty Britannians! If Zero was here, you wouldn't be acting so tough!"

"Do me a favor; don't ever say that traitor's name again!" Chiba spoke up from the corner.

Tamaki turned back to her in disbelief. "Hey, Zero didn't betray us!"

"Shut up, you stinking Eleven!" the first guard said as he bashed Tamaki's face in with the butt of his machine gun. Tamaki stayed down, whimpering silently to himself.

"Remember your place, dog," he grinned as he spit on Tamaki's face before leaving the cell with his partner in tow.

Tamaki pushed himself up from the floor and sidled over to the wall while the rest of his fellow knights watched him in silence.

"There has to be a reason for what he did," Oghi said, mostly to himself. He still believed that there had been some explanation behind Zero's abrupt disappearance from the fight for Tokyo.

"What reason?!" Chiba said. "Why did the commander vanish during the final decisive battle like that?!"

"Enough!" Tohdoh ordered. "It serves no purpose. Zero's dead, after all."

"He's dead?" Oghi gasped.

"Why else would he leave us here to rot? With Zero out of the picture and the Black Knights destroyed, Britannia has no one to oppose them now. It's only a matter of time before the E.U. collapses along with the Chinese Federation."

"We can't give up!" Tamaki yelled. "How do you know Zero's dead? He could just be coming up with the perfect plan to rescue us!"

"Face it Tamaki, he's _dead!_" Chiba retorted.

Before Tamaki could respond, the four Black Knights felt the entire building shake and heard what sounded like an explosion.

An ear-piercing klaxon sounded around the prison as the guards frantically rushed past their cell.

"What was that?" Oghi said.

Chiba looked to Tohdoh. "Could it be an attack?"

The Man of Miracles kept his eyes closed, listening intently to the chaos. "Possibly."

"Maybe it's Zero!" Tamaki cheered.

"Or it's Kallen and the others," Oghi smiled. Even if it wasn't them, he knew she was out there somewhere, doing everything she could to find them and save them all.

"Whoever it is, we still might have a shot at escape," Tohdoh said, opening his eyes to look at his comrades. "Be ready and stay strong, everyone."

* * *

Heero gunned down another Britannian as two more appeared at the end of the hallway. He shoved Lelouch back through the door they had come through and hid behind the archway. Bullets peppered the wall. When there were lulls, Heero would return their fire. Lelouch was breathing heavy, his hands on his knees as he gasped for air.

"I...hate...running..." he wheezed. Heero ignored the schoolboy as he took out a fragmentation grenade and pulled the pin with his teeth. He threw the explosive down the hall. He heard the guards scream a few seconds later as the shrapnel exploded in all directions.

Heero waited until the smoke subsided somewhat before he grabbed Lelouch again and bolted down the hallway, MP5 at the ready.

The pair had spent the past half-hour fighting their way out of the prison blocks and searching for a hanger or something that could provide them with transportation out of there. At first they had met little resistance, but that had changed after the higher-ups had probably found the bodies he had left behind. That hadn't triggered the alarm, however. No, that only happened when Heero had detonated several packs of C-4 plastique explosives he found in the prison armory.

_"Chaos results in confusion. The enemy's disarray will give us a slight edge here; enough to slip by unnoticed if we're lucky," _he had said.

Aside from the C-4, Heero hadn't found anything particular useful in the armory other than some boxes of ammo, stun batons, a few fragmentation grenades and a couple of bulletproof vests for himself and his companion. This place wasn't like any other prison he had ever seen. In fact, the place seemed more like a military base than anything.

As for Lelouch, the teen was absolutely pathetic when it came to anything requiring physical activity. Heero had to slow his usual quick pace just so the student could keep up. It was incredibly annoying.

Once through the smoke, Heero saw an elevator and rushed for it, Lelouch struggling to keep up. Heero stopped when he reached it and opened the doors, yanking Lelouch inside. He closed the doors and pressed the button for B1, where he thought the hanger would probably be.

"Remind me again why I came with you?" Lelouch said in between breaths as the elevator started its descent.

"It was either that or rot in here as a prisoner," Heero replied as he ejected his spent magazine and slotted a fresh one in its place.

"Are you sure you're not one of those Black Knights Britannia is still hunting?"

He took out his pistol and reloaded it also, not once looking up. "Never heard of 'em."

"But it's obvious you're a soldier. You must fight for someone."

Heero's pistol snapped back, automatically chambering a round. His expression was still remarkably calm despite all the havoc around them. "I fight for myself; no one else. All I know right now is that I need to find out what's going on. If anyone gets in the way and threatens my life, that person becomes my enemy."

Lelouch gaped at the soldier as he leaned against the elevator wall, crossing his arms as he waited for the doors to open. Who _was_ this guy?

"You act as if this kind of thing happens to you all the time."

Heero spared him a glance with that same stoic expression, though Lelouch swore he could have seen something like a memory flicker behind his eyes. They softened a bit.

"Let's just say with everything I've been through, nothing surprises me anymore."

He readied the machine gun as the doors opened. He peered around both corners and listened for any movement. Silence aside from the alarms.

_Good. Looks like they're still on the upper levels._

He turned back around to Lelouch and unfastened his holster. He took out his pistol and held the grip out to the schoolboy. "Know how to use this?"

He looked at the pistol, then back at the Perfect Soldier. "Why are you giving me that?"

Heero's lip curved into a slight frown. "If there's a hanger down here, something tells me things are gonna get messy soon if we run into trouble. I'd feel better if both of us were armed."

Lelouch looked down at the pistol again before he reached a hand out. He took the pistol and held it in both hands at the ready, as if he had been handling weapons for some time. That certainly didn't make sense for some naive schoolboy.

Lelouch noticed the small change in his companion's expression. "What?"

Heero turned back around, pausing for a moment to check all directions again. "It's nothing. Let's just hope you're better at shooting than running."

* * *

_**Pacific Ocean, Black Knights Submarine **_**Zouhan**_**  
July 18th, 2018 a.t.b., Imperial Calendar  
23:00 local time**_

Standing on top of the _Zouhan_, Urabe studied the complex through his binoculars, watching as the floodlights flashed like beacons in the cool night sky as smoke poured out of one of the towers. The prison was built on a jetty; three of its four sides were surrounded by cliffs while jungle overgrowth occupied the western side. It was walled and had several watchtowers with floodlights that constantly swept over the ocean, though the _Zouhan_ had made sure to stay clear out of their range.

They had circled the island once already, staying underwater and surveying it with the periscope and found a possible landing point for the few Knightmare Frames they had on board, should they become necessary.

Urabe lowered his binoculars, his face as hard as stone.

_Tohdoh, Chiba, Senba, Asahina...if you're in there, I hope you're all okay. The Japanese people need the Holy Swords again, just as bad as they need Zero._

Kallen's voice from below nudged him out of his thoughts. "Urabe, we cracked their comm. channels!"

Urabe took one last look at the prison before he climbed back down into the _Zouhan_. He closed the surface hatch before he went back to the command room. The rest of the crew stood huddled around an old radio.

_**"All levels...alert...intruder...Exile..."**_

"Can you clean it up?" C.C. asked.

"I'll try, Miss C.C. This thing isn't exactly top-of-the-line," the operator replied. He raised a pair of headphones to his ear and fine-tuned the signal. The sound continued to flicker as they all listened anxiously.

_**"...third level...head them off...increase security...Black Knight leaders...Britannia..."**_

"Wait, what was that last part?" Kallen asked, excitement brewing in her voice. Had she heard that transmission right?

"I'll replay it, hang on."

All of them listened as they heard the garbled chatter again: _**"increase security...Black Knight leaders..."**_

Urabe couldn't help the small smile that formed on his lips. "I guess we were right."

He turned to the rest of the remaining Black Knights, all looking at him in anticipation. The smile disappeared as he became serious again.

"Everyone, I won't lie to you; this very well could be a trap to lure us out. However, it's the best lead we've gotten so far. It's possible that Kiriara is where they're holding Tohdoh and the others. However, seeing as I'm not Zero, I don't feel it's solely up to me as to how we proceed. So I ask all of you—should we stage an attack and risk being caught if it means saving our friends?"

Not a single voice remained silent as the entire crew of the _Zouhan_ cheered.

"Then all hands to battle stations! Devicers, to your Knightmares! We make landfall in fifteen. Long Live Japan!"

"LONG LIVE JAPAN!" every member chanted as they rushed around the room. The _Zouhan_ turned to starboard, picking up speed as it rushed to the beach area.

Kallen fingered the key to her beloved Guren around her neck as she rushed out of the room to change into her pilot suit. She was right outside her quarters when she felt C.C. grab her arm from behind.

"What is it?" Kallen asked, irritated. C.C. gave her a rare, serious look.

"It's Lelouch. I don't know why, but I can sense him. I think he's somewhere on that island."

"_What?!_"

* * *

_-Index-_

**(1)**_** Zouhan**_**: Japanese word for "rebellion."**

_-Review Replies-_

_**zero: **_**Hey there! You've been with me for a long time zero, I'm glad you're still sticking around despite two previous false starts on this story. I'll definitely take your vote into account! I have a good idea as to who I want Heero to end up with, but we'll see how the cards fall when we get there. Thanks for the review and I hope you'll stick around!**

**_Guest (1):_ Thanks for the review, I'll try not to disappoint!**

_**Guest (2): **_**Thanks for the review. Expecting character development so early in the story is a bit unrealistic, in my opinion. It takes time for characters to develop in a good story, and rest assured there will be some development, but not quite yet. Please have patience!****  
**

_-Notes-_

**Not much to say except the next Mission should be out in another week or two. Anyway, thanks for all the favs/adds/reviews so far. Speaking of reviews, I don't mind anonymous ones, but it makes it harder to reply to each person individually if there's no address to send a PM to. So if you want individualized replies that are private, don't forget to sign in with a FF account. Anyway, please review and subscribe!**

**See you next mission,**

**-Sheik**


	4. Mission 03

"The trick of real combat is that everyone is human."

-_ Lelouch vi Britannia, exiled Eleventh Prince of Britannia. 2017 a.t.b._

* * *

**-Mission 03: Siege on Kiriara Island-  
**

_**Pacific Ocean, Kiriara Island Prison  
July 18**__**th**__**, 2018 a.t.b., Imperial Calendar  
22:59 local time**_

Former Deputy Warden Albert Bramson stood patiently in the control tower as operators communicated with the different sectors of Kiriara Island Prison. The klaxon that bellowed from the loudspeakers was giving him a headache. He couldn't wait for all of this to be over so he could finally get back to sleep.

"Squad Six is still searching for the enemy!"

"Firefighter unit has extinguished the fire in the armory!"

"Medical staff reports multiple injuries and over a dozen casualties so far, sir."

Bramson nodded, closing his hazel eyes while listening to every new development that came into the central control tower. Some would call him a man of short stature, but what he lacked in height he more than made up for in accomplishment and status in society, at least in his former life. The Bramsons were a noble house from the northeastern region of Britannia. As the eldest son and heir to the Bramson estate, Albert was given the best education in Boston and managed to even make it to West Point, where he graduated in the top ten of his class.

The future had looked bright for him, though all of that changed when his younger brother Joseph was arrested for espionage against the crown. Though Joseph swore repeatedly that he was innocent and not in league with the E.U., the courts found him guilty and had him put to death. To this day, Albert wasn't sure if Joseph was truly guilty or not. Their parents had given so much time and attention to Albert that hardly anyone ever paid attention to Joseph growing up. In a way, it was as if God Himself had decreed that the entire Bramson family should suffer for the negligent treatment of their estranged son.

The Bramsons were stripped of all titles and estates due to their ties to Joseph, and the rest of Albert's extended family shunned him and his parents. Unable to handle the guilt, they both committed suicide a few years later. At the time, all Albert could hope for was that the Britannian military would be more than willing to ignore his surname and instead focus on his education and experience.

_Fat chance of that,_ Albert thought bitterly. _I get shipped out to this bloody prison in the middle of nowhere and ordered to become Deputy to a spoiled brat of a Warden. I was out on the front lines in the E.U. with the best of them, watching allies die in front of my eyes as we conquered nations and expanded the Empire._

Before Kiriara, Albert had been a Lieutenant serving under the Knight of Nine, Nonette Enneagram. At least, until he was injured in a battle against E.U. forces when the ejection system on his Gloucester malfunctioned. The small explosion inside the cockpit had taken his left arm, and he was transferred from the front lines to Kiriara. It was supposed to have been an honor for a distinguished war veteran in his mid-thirties, but not to Albert. Renard had made his life a living hell from day one.

_That bastard only got where he was because of his daddy governor. __**I **__should have been the one in charge; not that lazy son of a bitch!_

But the Lord does work in mysterious ways, and it seemed that He was smiling down upon Albert today. When word reached him of Renard's murder, of course he had followed protocol and sounded the alarm. However, to say he was saddened by the loss of their Warden...that would be stretching the truth.

Regardless, he was Warden now, and he wasn't about to screw this opportunity up. It could even be his ticket off of this damnable rock.

"Um...excuse me? Señor Albert, sir..."

Albert turned around to where Renard's little slave of a jailer stood in the corner, twiddling his thumbs. Albert's usual stern gaze softened a bit. His heart went out to the poor Three. If you gave the man a chance, he was actually quite useful, especially when it came to spying on Renard. It's why Albert had bought his loyalty shortly after he arrived from Area Three. Not _all_ of his family's fortune had been seized.

"What is it, Chavez?"

"Shouldn't we tighten security even more around Cell Block B?" he mumbled. "I mean, if that guy really _is_ working for those Black Knights..."

Albert thought about it. Of course he had already asked for increased security around all of the blocks, but he hadn't really given special consideration to _them_ yet, since all sightings of the intruder and the "Exile," as OSI so fondly called the boy, had been away from that part of the prison. He thought the Knightmare hanger or the submarine bay would be the places most likely for them to head to, but so far there hadn't been any sign of them anywhere near either location.

On the other hand, _he_ wasn't Renard. Albert didn't want to take any unnecessary risks; it was bad enough that he was trying to keep their little problem under tight wraps. The last thing he needed was for this little intrusion to get out to Pendragon.

It wouldn't happen, not on_ his_ watch.

"I agree," he said to Chavez as he made his way to the radio, pressing the button that would allow his voice to be picked up on all frequencies.

"This is Acting Warden Albert Bramson to all high-ranking officers. I am placing the entire facility on a Level Four alert. The intruder has possession of the individual known as the 'Exile,' and was last sighted on the third floor in the western section near Cell Block A. Head them off; I want them both captured alive. Increase security around the Black Knight prisoners in Cell Block B as well. Now, move it! I want order restored to this prison immediately!"

_"Yes...my Lord!"_ every unit replied in unison.

* * *

_**Pacific Ocean, Black Knights Submarine **_**Zouhan  
**_**July 18th, 2018 a.t.b., Imperial Calendar  
**__**23:10 local time**_

C.C. watched the sonar intently, her luminous eyes scanning the sea around them for any signs of trouble as the _Zouhan_ edged steadily toward the designated landing zone. Though to the passing observer she appeared to be focused on the present. In reality, her mind was elsewhere.

She certainly hadn't expected to find him; not this early. She knew what Charles and V.V. had done to him. She had felt his pain through their bond as his memories of his heritage, his rebellion, and of Nunnally, were forcibly wiped clean as if they had never happened. She knew Charles had used his Geass; she had seen him do it many times before on others.

Until now, all she could do was wait one year until Charles decided to reintroduce his son to Ashford Academy in Area Eleven. Only then when he was in a familiar setting and out in the open could they hope to capture Lelouch and undo the damage Charles had caused. However, if it really was Lelouch C.C. sensed on that island, then they could potentially kill two birds with one stone if they could locate him.

Wait—there it was again_._ That same familiar flicker through the bond they shared as two souls bound by a contract. She smiled, one of her first genuine smiles in a long time. It really was him. Now, if Kallen and Urabe could only locate him and bring him back to her...

_**I've finally found you, Lelouch.**_

* * *

A shiver ran up Lelouch Lamperouge's spine. He stiffened and let out a small gasp as he turned around. No one but shadows greeted him. No way...he could have sworn he had heard a girl's voice again. Was he hallucinating because of the sedatives? And why did the image of a beautiful girl with long, flowing lime-green hair and golden, luminescent eyes keep appearing in his mind whenever he heard that voice?

"Problem?"

Lelouch looked back to Heero, who was still peering outside the door of the room they were hiding in as Britannian guards rushed past in pilot suits, weapons drawn. The klaxon still blared through the prison as loud as ever, though his ears had grown numb to it a long time ago.

"No. I, uh...I just thought I heard something."

Heero kept his cool gaze on the student for a bit longer before he returned to what he was doing. It was a few more moments before he finally broke the silence.

"Looks like that's all of them. That hanger should be just up the hallway. I'm not sure what's going on outside, but the distraction can work to our advantage. From the hanger, we can hijack a transport or a couple of Mobile Suits. Either option will do."

"Mobile Suits?"

Heero looked back at him again with that same calm, calculating expression. Although he looked a bit younger than Lelouch, probably around sixteen or seventeen if Lelouch were to guess, those eyes of his had a hardness to them that he had never encountered before. They were enticing, and yet intimidating at the same time. They appeared to belong to someone far older than the teen in front of him.

"Don't worry, they're not too hard to pilot," Heero explained. "If we can blend in with the others, we can slip out of their ranks and escape. There must be a few old Leos or Aires standing around that we can swipe."

"No, I mean what are Mobile Suits? Are you talking about Knightmare Frames?"

Heero raised an eyebrow. "_Knightmare Frames?_"

* * *

_**Pacific Ocean, Kiriara Island  
**__**July 18th, 2018 a.t.b., Imperial Calendar  
**__**23:15 local time**_

_"T-minus thirty seconds to landfall, Kallen,"_ said Urabe's voice over the radio.

"Right."

Kallen took another deep breath and tightened her hands around the joysticks of her beloved Guren Mk-II. This was it; this was the chance they had all been waiting for. Success would mean a resurrected Order of the Black Knights. Failure...she didn't even want to think about it. She only hoped Tohdoh and the others were actually in that prison somewhere, else all of this would be for nothing. _And what about Lelouch?_

No, he wasn't the primary objective right now. She was only supposed to keep a lookout for him, just in case C.C. turned out to be right. She wouldn't give Kallen any more information than that, which naturally pissed off the redhead to no end.

_That stupid witch and her secrets_, she thought with a growl._ I really don't know how Lelouch does it. Why was __**she**__ put in charge of this operation in the first place?_

_"Landfall in three..."_ Urabe announced.

Kallen shifted her legs in the motorcycle-like seat, her thighs tightening with anticipation as the Guren's systems came to life.

_"Two..."_

She double-checked the energy filler. Green at one-hundred percent capacity. She wouldn't have to worry about a refill for a couple of hours at least.

_"One..."_

She took one more calming breath before she felt a lurch beneath her, as if the _Zouhan_ had brushed against a hard surface. _Hold on Oghi, I'm coming._

_"Contact! Launch all Knightmares!"_

The rear hatch opened. About thirty pairs of landspinners burned rubber on steel plating before speeding out of the _Zouhan_ and onto a sandy beach. Silver and black Sutherlands and Burais disappeared into the jungle, the Guren leading at the helm with Urabe's customized Gekka not far behind.

Kallen welcomed the adrenaline rush that surged through her body as the Guren tore through Kiriara's tropical foliage with ease. The exhilaration, the excitement of battle—she had missed it all so much.

* * *

_**Pacific Ocean, Kiriara Island Prison  
Unknown date, 2018 a.t.b., Imperial Calendar  
Evening**_

"I'm telling you guys, it has to be Zero! I knew my best buddy wouldn't forget about me!"

"Shut up, Tamaki! Zero is _dead!_"

"If you both don't shut up, you'll both be dead!" yelled one of the guards outside their cell.

Although one would be hard-pressed to find it on his stone-like features as he meditated, Kyoshiro Tohdoh was starting to become highly irritated with both Chiba _and _Tamaki. It took almost all of his self-control, honed from years of intensive training, not to lash out at the both of them for such childish behavior.

"I don't know if it's Zero, but I'm positive I heard gunfire from Knightmares in the distance. It has to be Kallen and the others," Oghi muttered to Tohdoh.

"Not necessarily, Oghi," Tohdoh replied. "Remember the Chinese Federation and the E.U. are both still at war with Britannia. It could be a guerrilla assault for all we know."

"Even still, if this is a rescue attempt—"

Oghi paused mid-sentence when he heard the unmistakable sound of landspinners moving to the outside of their lone, barred window. He struggled with the restraint jacket to rise to his feet before hopping over to the window.

"What do you see?"

"At least three Sutherlands, maybe a few more."

_Hmm, so our guard has increased,_ Tohdoh thought. _The Britannians are more nervous than they let on. Perhaps this could work to our favor in the near future._

* * *

"What the?! Warden! Unknown IFF signatures detected in the jungle. Enemy Knightmares!"

Albert muttered a few curses and walked toward the large map screen. As if they didn't have enough problems to deal with.

"How? Air drop? Sea?"

"Sonar picked up a sole underwater craft a few moments ago. It surfaced on the western side of the island and released an unknown number of Knightmare Frames on the beach. Enemy units are in the jungle and will reach our perimeter defenses in five minutes."

He watched as around thirty or so foreign carrier signals moved quickly toward the prison. Were they allied with the intruder? If so, that might explain why they had found this island. No matter; despite being a prison for traitors and POWs, this facility was once a military base during the Second Pacific War. It wasn't as large as the squadrons from Area Eleven, but this facility still had its own modest offensive unit of forty Sutherlands and Gloucesters—more than enough to deal with a small contingent of enemies like this one. Whoever they were.

"Shouldn't we call for assistance from Britannian forces in Area Eleven?"

Albert had to restrain himself from slapping the fool. "_Idiot!_ Do you really want to be the laughing stock of the entire Imperial Army? This is our chance to prove ourselves to His Majesty and the rest of our homeland!"

He didn't even wait for a response as he turned around to address the entire control tower.

"Scramble all of our devicers. I want at least ten Gloucesters guarding the area around Cell Block B. Meanwhile, the rest of our forces will continue their search for the intruder and the Exile. Our patrols should be back eventually to sink their little sub, so no need to worry about that. Annihilate these rebels and we shall be rewarded. You have your orders; destroy them all for the glory of our nation—for His Majesty, the Emperor! All Hail Britannia!"

_"ALL HAIL BRITANNIA!"_

* * *

_**Pacific Ocean, Kiriara Island  
July 18th, 2018 a.t.b., Imperial Calendar  
23:24 local time**_

The jungles of Kiriara had transformed into a firestorm of bullets, explosions, and shrapnel. Frightened birds flew from the branches as Kallen maneuvered the Guren with as much precision as she could between the splintering trees, dodging incoming fire from a couple of Gloucesters.

One of them made a rush at her, firing its assault rifle wildly in an arc. She pulled the Guren back and let the Gloucester pass by her. Without missing a beat, she engaged her chest Slash Harken to pin it in place while she shot through the cockpit with the Guren's left-mounted Hand Gun. The lifeless Gloucester fell to the ground in a heap of smoke and twisted metal while its partner was destroyed by the rest of her small squad. Normally, she would have simply used the Guren's special weapon, the Radiant Wave Surger, on the right arm. However, she wanted to conserve as much energy as possible for when they breached the prison walls.

So far, there hadn't been too much resistance, though the jungle provided protection for both sides so it was hard to tell how many Knightmares they were up against. She could tell the prison was definitely not prepared for a guerrilla assault, though. Their Knightmares weren't even painted in camouflage to take advantage of the environment, not that Kallen was complaining. So long as they didn't encounter any Knights of the Round, she and Urabe could handle any surprises the Britannians could throw at them.

_"First and Second Squads to_ Zouhan. _We have the prison within sight, engaging enemy Knightmares before making an attempt to breach the walls."_

_"Excellent. Continue with the operation,"_ C.C. replied.

Another Sutherland tried to flank her before she turned the Guren around. She rushed forward and grabbed it by its Factsphere.

"Burn, you Britannian bastard!" she cried, activating her special weapon.

She watched with immense satisfaction as the Knightmare Frame and its devicer boiled alive like a microwave oven until the machine finally exploded. Another Britannian killed, another Japanese life saved.

Kallen caught the faint shape of Urabe's Gekka pull up to her in the Guren's left view screen. _"How are you holding up, Kallen?"_

"No problems so far."

_"Good, we'll need you soon. I have a hunch that most of the enemy's strength is still at the prison. If we don't want our friends to get hurt, we're gonna have to be quick when we reach it. It's not above Britannians to kill their captives if all else is lost, remember."_

Kallen gritted her teeth_. If those bastards have done anything to hurt Oghi or any of my friends, they'll pay with their lives..._

* * *

Heero swore for the umpteenth time as he sluggishly skated along the rough terrain. This was probably the worst Mobile Suit he had ever piloted, if it could even be called that. It was a dark purple in color and armed with a basic assault rifle, but that was it as far as he could tell for armaments. It was far smaller than the standard Mobile Suit as well. The average Leo was around seventeen meters tall or so. By a rough estimate, Heero guessed this thing was about three, maybe four meters or so. Compared to a massive behemoth like Wing Zero, it was nothing but a soccer ball to be kicked around.

Swiping them had been simple enough with all the chaos in the hanger. He had heard yelling and orders concerning enemy Knightmares, which probably meant the prison was under attack. A lucky break, for them at least.

He had Lelouch stay behind for a moment, pistol at the ready as he ran over to two pilots that were about to board two of those dark purple Mobile Suits. He hadn't really paid attention to them at the time; instead he was focused on knocking the pilots out. Once he dragged the bodies behind some crates he took their ignition keys and motioned for Lelouch to come over. It hadn't taken them long to board the Mobile Suits, find the activation codes in the cockpits and blend in as planned with the others. Piloting the damn things were another matter entirely. He was glad that Duo wasn't around; Heero would have never lived this down.

The Gundam pilot gritted his teeth as he slammed into even more trees. He barely righted the suit once again before it could crash into the ground. The mobility systems were basic at best, there were no thruster or flight systems whatsoever, the sluggish reaction time was even worse than a Leo, and the cockpit was sticking out from the rear, completely vulnerable to attack from all sides.

In short, whoever created these things was a witless dumbass who didn't know the first thing about Mobile Suit production. Heero wanted nothing more than to choke the life out of that person at the moment.

Ironically enough, the schoolboy was piloting better than him. It was yet another mystery surrounding the intriguing youth known as Lelouch Lamperouge.

"You're pretty good for a student with no piloting experience," Heero remarked over their private channel.

_"I don't know, I'm just using instinct,"_ Lelouch responded from the identical Mobile...Knightmare Frame on Heero's right. _"I did some reading on Knightmares for a class project two years ago. I didn't think I'd ever get the chance to pilot one. But I thought you were supposed to be the experienced one of us."_

"Let's just say I'm used to more...advanced suits," he grunted as they reached a clearing in the jungle.

_"All units, spread out and destroy the enemy! We have the numbers, we have the home field advantage. For the glory of Britannia!"_

_Here's our chance, _Heero thought. "Lelouch, follow me. Let's head for that clearing..."

_"You two,"_ a navy blue Knightmare moved in front of them. Heero guessed he was the leader. _"I want you to hang back with me. The enemy is after our prisoners, they must not breach the prison walls."_

"But sir," Heero started in a lighter tone, "shouldn't we be helping with—"

_"Don't question your commanding officer, devicer!"_ he responded_. "In subornation like that will get you court marshaled. What's your activation code?"_

Heero paused for a moment, trying to think of a plausible response.

_"Well?"_

_...Screw it._ He pulled what he thought was the trigger for the assault rifle. To his astonishment, hooks flew out from the front of his suit and pierced through the Knightmare in front of him.

_"What the hell are you doing!? Mayday, I'm taking friendly fire! I need—"_

_Found it,_ Heero growled with annoyance as his Knightmare retracted the hooks and fired its assault rifle. The bullets pierced right through the other Knightmare Frame before it was consumed in a fiery explosion.

The cockpit was almost caught by the blast, but it ejected out of the back and into the air. Heero manually targeted it the best he could and destroyed it after a few shots from the assault rifle.

His radio crackled to life. _"Captain, what's going on? Is it the enemy?"_

Heero turned back to Lelouch's frame. "Let's go. The jungle will give us some cover."

The two Gloucesters sped off into the jungle as four Sutherlands skated over to the twisted remains of their captain's Knightmare.

* * *

"Are you sure?"

_"Yes sir, I saw two Gloucesters heading off when I found Captain Lyon's frame. Only friendly fire could have done this."_

"Can we track their IFF signals from here?" he asked the radar operator. The man shook his head back and forth.

"There's too many Knightmare Frames moving about, sir. Plus the density of the jungle foliage isn't allowing us to get the most accurate readings. This _is_ an older model, after all."

"Dammit," Albert hissed and pressed the button on the map console to send out a message to all friendly Knightmares in the field. He watched as more of his troops, marked in blue, disappeared with the words "**LOST" **lingering behind as the red marks continued toward the prison.

"All units, two of our Gloucesters have been hijacked by the intruder and the Exile. Find and capture them immediately. I don't care how, I just want them alive!"

He walked back to the enormous window and observed the explosions and smoke coming from the tops of the trees, his right hand clasped in a fist. He looked down and closed his eyes for a moment.

"Please Lord, let us be victorious this night. Amen," he muttered under his breath.

* * *

_-Review Replies-_

_**Guest:**_** Thank you for the review and your kind words! I'm so glad you're enjoying the ride so far. Hopefully this Mission gave you an idea, haha. And yes, don't worry, that will come in due time! It shall definitely be memorable, I'll say that. **

_**zero:**_** Glad to have you along for the ride, then! Thanks so much for coming back, it means a lot to me. This time, I'll succeed!**

_-Notes-_

**Hey all! Thanks so much for all the reviews/favs/follows! I'm so glad this story still has quite a bit of support. To original fans, please be patient as new chapters will be coming soon once the originals are re-released. To those new to the story, I hope you're enjoying the ride so far.**

**Also for the new readers, just a quick note on religion, I'm not aiming to offend anyone, and this chapter represents as far as I will go into religion in the Code Geass world. It's just a part of who Bramson is as a character. His beliefs do not reflect my own.**

**Anyway, the next Mission should be released sometime in the next two weeks, like the last one. Still working on "Heart of Steel." My goal is to have it finished by the end of February at the latest so I can focus all my attention on this story. Anyway, please keep sending reviews my way and let me know what you think! Favs/follows are always nice, too. My author profile is regularly updated with chapter status updates!**

**See you next mission,**

**-Sheik**


	5. Mission 04

"If one makes a decision with a cool head, he won't find himself regretting that decision later."

_-Zechs Merquise, former OZ Colonel. A.C. 195_

* * *

**-Mission 04: The Mystery of Wing Zero-**

_**Unknown Island  
July 18th, 2018 a.t.b., Imperial Calendar  
23:58 local time**_

Heero Yuy moved between the trees as quick as he could without stumbling in his stolen Gloucester, Lelouch Lamperouge slightly in front of him as the vociferous thunder of gunfire reduced the jungle around them to splinters.

He pulled both control handles back as he stopped behind a thick cluster of foliage. Using the computer's manual targeting system, he narrowed down the multiple sources of gunfire to the best of his ability with the Gloucester's assault rifle and returned fire with several bursts of his own.

_"Don't let up; surround them until their energy fillers run out!"_ he heard a Britannian pilot cry over the radio.

To the outside observer, it looked like Heero was perfectly calm and collected, which was only due to his incredible amount of discipline and years of experience on the battlefield. On the inside, he was deeply irritated. This "stop-and-go" pattern had been the norm for the past ten minutes, and no matter how many times he hit the four Knightmares that now surrounded them, none of his shots would disable or completely destroy them.

If only this junk heap had better weapons, like a Vulcan cannon or a beam saber of some kind. Fortunately, some experimentation on his part had revealed both thermal and night vision modes for his front viewscreens. They helped, but the rifle was far too cumbersome to be of much use without a proper targeting system, especially during a nighttime engagement. Not to mention that the ammo counter on his console was becoming dangerously low...

He would have chuckled if he wasn't in the thick of combat. The nostalgia of this situation was far too amusing. It reminded him too much of that time when he had played mercenary to the Treize Faction during the One-Year-War; his way of retaliating against the Romefeller Foundation's dominion over Earth and outer space. Back then, he piloted an outdated Leo against Romefeller's newest Virgo Mobile Dolls, and it had only been thanks to Quatre and Lieutenant Noin that he had survived. Now that he thought about it, perhaps since mastering the Wing Zero, he had grown far too reliant on the Gundam and its unique ZERO System for his own good.

_And this time, I'm not looking for a battlefield to die on_, he thought grimly. _I'm not ready yet._

_"Heero, any ideas here?!"_ Lelouch's voice crackled over their private channel as his Knightmare pulled up to the left, jarring Heero out of his thoughts.

The Perfect Soldier looked around the cockpit, making sure he hadn't missed any other switches that might reveal additional weapons. Those hook things wouldn't work very well from this distance, the underbelly anti-ground machine gun had been depleted a long time ago, and he only had a couple dozen or so rounds left in the assault rifle.

His right index finger brushed over a purple button on the back of the control handle. _Wait, that wasn't there before._

He paused for a moment, considering the ramifications…

_...Why not?_ he thought as he pressed it. He watched as his Gloucester automatically reached down to its right hip and took out a black cylinder. His viewscreen's display changed into a grid, automatically calculating distance and estimated landing points with a blinking cursor.

_Hmm…a "Chaos Mine," huh? _Heero thought as he read the words that appeared under the targeting display. _It's worth a shot._

Waiting another moment for the four red blips on his radar to get closer, he pressed the purple button again as his Knightmare automatically threw the mine.

He waited for the explosion...and was puzzled when the mine stopped in midair.

_What?_

A panel slid out from the front and a hail of bullets rained down in a wide arc.

_"Agh, a Chaos Mine?! Bastar–!"_ he heard a Britannian scream over the radio as each Knightmare exploded while the cockpits jetted away into the darkness. The radar was clear again.

_"How did you do that?"_ Lelouch asked.

"Got lucky. Let's move before we encounter more of them. We should be nearing the shoreline soon. Hopefully we can find a speedboat or something there."

* * *

_**Pacific Ocean, Kiriara Island Prison  
July 19th, 2018 a.t.b., Imperial Calendar  
00:05 local time**_

"My Lord, a small contingent of enemy Knightmares is approaching the perimeter wall. Our Sutherland forces won't hold out for much longer!"

_I'm not a lord anymore_, Bramson thought, though he didn't bother to correct the man. He frowned as he watched the enemy IFFs on radar effortlessly cut down the last of their outer perimeter defenses.

Reports from the battle had been pouring in from the front lines every few moments, and everything he had heard and seen had only confirmed his suspicions that things weren't going his way.

"I want a sit-rep. What's the status of our forces?"

One of the senior officers monitoring the radar spoke up."We've lost eighty-five percent of our Sutherlands and about seventy percent of our Gloucesters. They've broken through every single line minus the perimeter wall with few, if any, casualties on their side that we can count."

_If this keeps up, then they'll take this entire prison in a few hours, _he thought. He had sent most of their forces into the jungle, attempting to coordinate ambushes against this small number of still-unknown enemy Knightmares, but somehow the enemy kept using the nighttime conditions to their advantage and used stealth tactics to get the jump on each squad before they even knew what was happening.

He gripped the edge of the control console tightly with his remaining hand, thinking of any possible defenses he might have overlooked.

A thought struck him as his eyes lit up. He recalled something Renard had told him about. He mentally slapped himself. How did he not remember this sooner?

_They should still be operational. The mechanics restocked them last month according to the weapons reports Renard forwarded me..._

He grinned; in that case there was one more ace up his sleeve he had yet to play.

"Get our Chief Mechanic on the line. Tell our remaining Knightmare forces in the prison to fall back to Cell Block D, and have them stand by for further orders."

"But _Señor_!" Chavez sputtered from behind him. The Eight had been quietly observing the battle up until now. "Won't that leave the walls defenseless? The enemy will overwhelm us in minutes!"

"Normally I'd agree with you Chavez," Bramson remarked. "But until now, I forgot about a small little countermeasure our dear friend Renard set up, just in case we had a pest problem like now. Let them come."

* * *

_"Kallen, you got incoming! Ten o'clock!"_

"I see him!"

The Guren glided smoothly out of the way of an oncoming Sutherland as Kallen unsheathed the Guren's small fork knife. She mercilessly ran it through the Sutherland's cockpit, watching as it fell over in a smoking heap before more assault rifle fire forced her back behind her squad of Burai. Several meters away, Urabe's Gekka cut through Sutherland-after-Sutherland with its Revolving Blade Sword with ease. He dodged enemy fire as he pressed forward, a trio of Burais following close behind. Kallen guided her own forces through the opening that Urabe had created, her eyes never leaving the outer steel wall that protectively encircled Kiriara Island Prison.

_This is taking too long_, Kallen thought. Second, Third and Fourth Squads had remained behind in the jungle to keep the rest of the prison's Knightmares busy, and luckily they hadn't encountered any other Knightmare Frames aside from Sutherlands and Gloucesters. But despite that and even with the combined skill of Kallen and Urabe, pushing forward to the outer perimeter of the prison had been a crawl at best for First Squad. It was almost like Urabe read her mind when he suddenly spoke up.

_"Pick up the pace; we need to get inside and rescue our comrades now!"_ he ordered over the radio.

One of the newer recruits spoke up. _"Captain, there's no way we can get through that wall! Even the Guren couldn't possibly do it."_

"Wanna find out?" Kallen snapped, turning to the offending recruit and activating her Radiant Wave Surger.

She could almost see Urabe's humorous grin in her mind. _"No need, Kozuki. I've got a better idea."_

The Holy Sword cut down the last Sutherland in his way before he parked his Gekka next to the wall. He moved the torso up before he fired his Slash Harken. The hook flew over the top and latched on to something on the other side.

"A little trick I picked up during the Black Rebellion," he explained as his cockpit lurched back, his Knightmare rappelling up the wall. The rest of the Burais did the same as the searchlights bathed them in artificial light.

"You coming, Kozuki?" Urabe playfully remarked as he landed on the other side. He switched to thermals and looked for more Sutherlands or Gloucesters. Nothing. Not even a small force armed with anti-Knightmare artillery.

_That's odd_, he mused as his Knightmare's Factsphere Sensor retracted. _I guess we took out more of their forces than I thought. But something doesn't feel right here to me._

Just as the last of the Burais landed on the other side, a large part of the wall behind them started glowing a bright orange, steam rising out of the heated steel. A moment later the wall burst apart as the Guren sped through, coming to a smooth stop next to Urabe's Gekka.

_Typical Kallen,_ he smirked with amusement. Suddenly, warning lights went off in his cockpit as several small red blips appeared on his radar. The searchlights went off, immersing them all in the clouded night. A couple of Burais from his squad exploded before their Devicers could even react, let alone auto-eject.

"Crap! Automated turrets," he grunted as he fired his hand cannon at the towers, destroying one of the drone miniguns on his radar as he continued to evade their fire as fast as he could. Another Burai went up in flames; the older Glasgow-knockoffs were far less agile than their Britannian counterparts.

"Everyone, evasive maneuvers! Releasing chaff smoke!" Urabe yelled as he flipped a few switches on his right. A pink smoke started bellowing out from behind his Gekka, covering the area in a thick mist.

_That should buy us a bit of time_, Urabe thought. "Kallen, we'll draw their fire. Find and destroy the control tower so we can shut those damn turrets off!"

_"Hai!"_ she replied as he watched her speed off in a zigzag pattern.

* * *

Bramson smirked as he watched two enemy Knightmares succumb to the power of their Britannian-made "Hunter" class drone turrets. Renard had once mentioned that they were left over from the Second Pacific War. Although they were maintained regularly, Bramson never thought they would actually be needed to repel a surprise attack one day.

_Even thought Renard was a real bastard, I suppose I should thank him for his foresight,_ he mused.

"My Lord, look!"

Bramson broke out of his internal thoughts and turned back to the carnage, only to see a cloud of pink-ish smoke lingering where the enemy units had been. The drones were still firing, though haphazardly.

He glared out the window. "What the hell is that smoke?"

One of his staff spoke up from the monitors. "We're unsure sir, though it's completely jamming the sensors on the drones. Looks like a kind of chaff gas meant to disrupt electronic devices."

He had only heard of such a thing occurring once in Area Eleven last year, back when Princess Cornelia Li Britannia was Viceroy (she went missing during the Black Rebellion. Her body was never found, leading some to believe she was still alive somewhere). From what he remembered, it was a prison raid led by Zero and his Black Knights to rescue the Japanese Liberation Front's former general, Kyoshiro Tohdoh. _How convenient that Tohdoh just so happens to be one of my prisoners at the moment..._

Combined with what he had seen and heard about the fighting style and appearance of the enemy Knightmares, there was no doubt about it now. They were definitely dealing with the remnants of the Black Knights. Part of him wished they had contacted Area Eleven for assistance while they still could. Too late now; a small group of enemy Knightmares had destroyed their communications array not too long ago. They were on their own unless a miracle happened.

"Tech teams, talk to me. Is there any way we can clear that smoke? What about the enemy?" Bramson asked.

_"Negative my Lord, we'll just have to wait for it to dissipate_," one of the technicians overseeing the drone system replied over the radio. _"Thermal, infrared and night vision modes are unresponsive as well."_

Bramson cursed under his breath. Who would have thought such a small group of terrorists would be so much trouble? Then again, this was the Black Knights they were talking about. The very same group that had nearly brought Britannian forces in Area Eleven to their knees.

"Wait...what is that?! My Lord, enemy Knightmare Frames approaching us at alarming speed from the left front!"

Bramson rushed over to the other side of the control tower, his eyes quickly landing on a crimson Knightmare dodging fire from the drones protecting them. Of course the ground was at least fifteen stories below them, but the sight chilled Bramson's blood.

The forked, silver right arm, the demonic head...he had heard about this Knightmare, the one piloted by the Black Knight's ace. It was rumored that the pilot's skill rivaled even those of the Knights of the Round and was just as powerful as that Britannian prototype unit, the Lancelot.

_But still, it doesn't have a Float System...it can't reach us all the way up here,_ he thought with some hope. The base of Kiriara Prison's control tower was hardened to resist even the harshest of explosive attacks, meaning even if the Black Knights brought in heavy artillery, it would be all for naught. Or at least, that's what he had been told by Renard.

"Send targeting data to all drones for that Knightmare; take that thing out now! Scramble our Sutherlands, I don't care about friendly fire—"

But before he could utter another word, red lights flashed through the tower and the alarm sounded.

"Breach at the base of the tower! It's..._melting?!"_

Bramson's sole right hand turned unnaturally white as it tightened into a fist. He watched as the crimson Knightmare used the power of its right arm to break through the base of the tower.

Though his staff ran about and called for reinforcements, all clambering for the elevator in a pitiful attempt to save their own lives, Bramson remained where he was. He had given it his all, but he was no Nonette Enneagram.

He closed his eyes with a smile as the tower started to implode upon itself and collapse to the earth below, screams of pain and fright chorusing all around him. At least he would be with his family again soon; hopefully the Lord would welcome him with open arms. No one could ever say he didn't give this life his best shot.

* * *

"Urabe, it's done."

Kallen deactivated the Radiant Wave Surger and rushed away from the control tower as it collapsed to the ground. Normally she would have been afraid it would have toppled over and possibly harmed the prisoners, but modern Britannian building standards had taken care of that danger. Even older buildings had been reinforced with newer materials to protect against earthquakes and other hazards, and were engineered to implode on themselves if destroyed to prevent further damage to the surrounding area.

_"Great job, Kallen! How's your energy filler looking?"_

"Umm...only about twenty-eight percent charge left."

_"That should be enough to finish the mission. Rendezvous with the rest of First Squad at the cell block on the western side. Be careful, there's a few Sutherlands guarding it. I have a hunch we might find our friends there, so we'll have to hit them hard and fast."_

"Right! On my way!"

_"_Zouhan _to Captain Urabe,"_ C.C.'s voice suddenly interrupted. _"Second and Third Squads are having some trouble eliminating the stragglers in the jungle, and I had Fourth Squad fall back to the landing zone to protect the _Zouhan_. There's only so much I can do from here. Do you mind giving them a hand?"_

_"Fine,"_ Urabe sighed as Kallen watched his distant Gekka skate through the wall opening she had created earlier. _"Kallen, you're in command here now. I'm counting on you to rescue the others. Give Commander Tohdoh and the others my best."_

"I will," Kallen replied. "Guren to First Squad; rendezvous with me at the same location as before. Prepare for base infiltration. Time to free our friends!"

* * *

_**Unknown Island  
July 19th, 2018 a.t.b., Imperial Calendar  
00:28 local time**_

The open channel on the radio had been silent for far too long. Either communications had been knocked out at the prison, or whoever it was that had waged the attack had won.

It didn't matter to Heero; as long as both sides didn't get in his way, he could care less who won. What did matter to him, however, was the wreck that he and Lelouch had come across only moments ago. Though Lelouch didn't recognize it, Heero knew it was a shuttle. More importantly, it was _his_ shuttle.

_The horse I rode in on_, he thought dryly, recalling an old poem he heard once a long time ago.

He could almost see the coastline beyond the trees when Lelouch had pointed out the wreck. When he got a better look at it and recognized it, Heero had immediately changed direction and headed right for it, ignoring Lelouch's protests.

He stopped his Gloucester a few yards from the wreck and pressed the button that opened the Gloucester's cockpit and took out the ignition key. He waited as the pilot's seat retracted from the cockpit out of the back. He didn't even bother with the lift cable as he dropped down from the seat to the soft jungle floor, landing with a grace honed by years of training. He could faintly see Lelouch climbing out of his own Gloucester in his peripheral vision as he ran toward the wrecked shuttle.

"Stay here!" he shouted, hoping the student had heard him.

As he sprinted, he noticed how relatively intact the shuttle was even though it would never fly again. Both wings had been sheared in half and most of the ocean blue titanium plating was cracked or torn clean off in several places. A few trees had toppled onto the cockpit and smashed the windows, no doubt due to the obviously harsh impact. It was fortunate the thing hadn't exploded on impact.

None of this made sense; the guards had explicitly said that he had been found unconscious in the jungle, and yet the last thing he remembered was opening the door to the cargo bay...

He didn't bother trying to climb in through the windows. Instead he ran around to the rear, where the retractable cargo door should still be.

_If I didn't open it fully, then maybe it's still there..._

It had to be. He had been found alone, and even if the Britannians had found it, there would have been a large crater right where he was standing.

Whatever hope Heero clung onto was crushed when he finally reached the rear of the shuttle. The cargo door was half-open, allowing only the faintest of moonlight into the interior. Heero thumbed the small flashlight underneath his MP5 and shone it inside.

The cargo hold was empty.

* * *

_**Pacific Ocean, Kiriara Island  
July 19th, 2018 a.t.b., Imperial Calendar  
00:50 local time**_

Urabe hacked through what he hoped was the last of the enemy Gloucesters before he heard the good news from C.C.

_"_Zouhan_ to Squad Commander Urabe. Just wanted you to know that we now have control of the entire prison. Our gamble paid off; Kallen found them, Urabe. All of them."_

He broke into a grin as his mind again turned toward his fellow Holy Swords_. Tohdoh, Senba, Chiba, Asahina...we'll be reunited soon. We can start over again, revive the Black Knights and save our people from Britannian enslavement. Now if we can only find Zero_—

He was knocked out of his thoughts when he saw the small, mushroom-like explosion in the distance, rising above the treetops and lighting up the jungle around him.

"What in the hell was that?"

* * *

Lelouch covered his eyes and fell backwards right on his rear as the mysterious wreck in front of him burst into flames, the remaining parts turning into scrap metal.

He watched as Heero slowly lowered the small detonator in his outstretched fist, his eyes staring intently at the aircraft ahead of him.

As Heero had requested, Lelouch had hung back while Heero went inside the mysterious...airship? Plane? Whatever it was, Heero knew about it, though he wouldn't elaborate. He had returned several minutes later with a blue duffle bag slung across his shoulder. If Lelouch hadn't known any better, he would have sworn that the soldier's eyes had only become even more intense in the short time he had been gone.

Lelouch knew that look; it was one he had seen on many Britannian nobles when they were losing in chess. It was pure rage.

He had moved past Lelouch without even acknowledging him, only a request to follow him before telling him sharply to get behind him as he dropped the duffel bag on the ground.

Silent and still as a statue, Heero watched the blaze of his creation for awhile, as if he were waiting for something to rise up from the flames. Before Lelouch decided to finally break the silence, Heero threw the detonator on the ground and stomped on it, crushing the fragile device into an unrecognizable mess. He took a deep breath before he regained his stiff composure and turned back to Lelouch.

"We should get moving. I wouldn't be surprised if we drew some attention to ourselves."

Lelouch watched, dumbfounded as his companion walked back toward the Gloucesters. Did this guy have any common sense at all?

"If that's the case, then why did you blow that thing up?!"

Heero paused for a moment before turning back to Lelouch. "Later. For now, just know that I had to. There were some things on that aircraft that I don't want falling into the wrong hands."

As he and Lelouch neared their Gloucesters, several pairs of lights shone on them from multiple sides. Heero brought up his MP5 as Knightmare Frames encircled them, assault rifles pointed and ready to fire as their wheels screeched to a halt.

_"Freeze! Drop your weapons and surrender. You're surrounded!"_ one of them echoed.

They were Sutherlands, much like the ones they had encountered before, except many of them looked weathered and older than the Britannian ones. Not to mention all of them were spray painted black. If he had to guess, he would wager that these were the forces the Britannians had been fighting.

Seeing no possible way out at the moment, Heero reluctantly raised his hands up and dropped the MP5 on the ground along with the duffle bag. Lelouch stood next to him, tossed away his pistol and raised his hands as well. Remarkably he kept his face calm, though Heero bet on the inside the schoolboy was frightened out of his mind.

The Perfect Soldier raised an eyebrow as another Knightmare pulled up, though this one looked far different than the others. It was grey and much sleeker in design, with an arm-mounted machine gun on the left arm and what looked like a kind of buzz-saw katana in the right hand.

The hatch opened and a cable lowered the pilot down before he walked toward the pair, armed with a pistol. He looked well built physically despite his thin frame, and judging by his Knightmare Frame alone, Heero guessed that the blue-haired man was the leader.

When he saw Lelouch, his face turned into a smirk, like he had just won the lottery. Heero glanced back at Lelouch as the man pressed a button on the wireless communication device in his ear and spoke in a hushed tone as he motioned for a few other pilots to come out.

"I don't believe this, but you were right, C.C. We found him."

* * *

_-Review Replies-_

_**Guest:**_** Thank you very much for reviewing, glad you're enjoying the ride!**

_-Notes-_

**I can't thank you guys enough for all the support. I really appreciate it, and I'm so humbled that you're all enjoying the ride. Special shout out goes to those that have read the story before it got taken down. Stick with me a bit longer; we'll get to new material soon, I promise. Also if I haven't responded to your review, send me a PM and I'll do so. I'm trying to keep track of sending replies to signed reviews, but sometimes I forget which ones I've send and which ones I haven't.**

**Anyway, you guys know the drill. Leave me a review and let me know your thoughts/comments/concerns/etc. Don't forget to subscribe/favorite if you haven't already!**

**See you next mission,**

**-Sheik**


	6. Mission 05

"You can't change the world without getting your hands dirty."

-_ Diethard Reid, Head Media and Information Specialist, Black Knights. 2017 a.t.b.  
_

* * *

**-Mission 05: Lelouch, the Masked Vigilante Once Again-**

_**Pacific Ocean, Black Knights Submarine **_**Zouhan  
**_**July 19th, 2018 a.t.b., Imperial Calendar  
**__**01:15 local time**_

"Oghi!"

A flash of spiky red hair literally slammed into the former schoolteacher, clinging to him as if he would disappear into thin air at any moment.

"Kallen," he smiled, returning the hug just as fiercely. "I'm glad you're alright. Naoto would never forgive me if something happened to you."

Kallen, still clad in her scarlet, form-fitting jumpsuit, finally let go and wiped a tear out of her eye. "Oghi, you're the only family I have left besides Mom. I can't lose you, either."

"If you hadn't arrived when you did, you might have. I don't know if any of us would still be alive."

* * *

_Oghi watched as the Sutherlands guarding their cell block suddenly fired their assault rifles into the distance. He shut his eyes and looked away as one of them burst into flames._

_"Looks like they've breached the walls," Tohdoh commented from his right. _

_"Who, though?" Oghi asked. "The others?" _

_"It's gotta be Zero!" Tamaki cheered from the far corner. _

_"Would you shut up already about that traitorous bastard, Tamaki?!" Chiba yelled from the opposite side. If her body wasn't bound by the straightjacket, Oghi had no doubt that the loudmouth would have been reduced to a messy pulp by the fierce Holy Sword._

_"But the Brits are gettin' beat! Who else would put them in their place like this?"_

_"We still haven't ruled out the Chinese Federation," Tohdoh reminded him. They had already decided that the E.U. was far too weak now to launch a raid on an island close to Area Eleven. The remnants in Italy and the few free countries under its banner were having a hard-enough time defending their remaining territories from the Britannians as it was. The Chinese Federation, on the other hand, was still at a stalemate with Britannia as far as they all knew. This island didn't hold any strategic significance by itself. Who knew if the Brits had captured a valuable POW (1) or two, though?_

_But some small part of Oghi secretly hoped that it actually was the remnants of the Black Knights. True, Zero might be dead, but from what Tohdoh had said, Urabe was no novice when it came to leading troops into battle. _

_The guards outside their small cell had disappeared about ten minutes ago, barking orders into the radios attached to their uniforms. Various prisoners in cell blocks further down the hall were cheering as they watched the remaining Sutherlands succumb to the invader's return fire. They tried to see if they could recognize the voices of Asahina, Senba, Ioune, or any of the other Black Knights, but there were too many shouting at once to know for sure._

_A lone gunshot from a pistol silenced the chaos. "That's it! Shut the fuck up! The lot of you!"_

_Oghi turned around and saw a trio of Britannian guards walking down the hall, machine guns drawn and all pointed at the nearest cells. "They might have taken this prison, but they sure as hell won't get to you!" the leader, a stocky blonde male, bellowed._

_He turned his head and locked eyes with Oghi. A wicked grin graced his features as he raised his weapon and aimed through the bars of the cell door._

_"Ahh yes, the commanders. You lot are who those terrorist bastards are after." He thumbed off the safety on his assault rifle, racking the slide as he raised it. "This unofficial execution will start with you four!"_

_Tamaki whimpered, hugging the wall with his body and looking away. Tohdoh glared at the men defiantly while Chiba scooted close to her leader's leg, a silent tear trailing down her cheek._

Naoto, I'm sorry. I couldn't watch over your sister like you asked me to...I'm so sorry,_ Oghi thought as he closed his eyes, bracing himself for everlasting darkness. The face of a silver-haired woman he once knew came to mind, her radiant smile filling him with longing for the past. _Chigusa...

_Gunfire echoed off the walls, though Oghi felt no pain. _What?

_He cautiously opened his eyes. All three Britannian guards made chortling sounds as they fell to the floor in a heap, their bodies punctured by bullet holes._

_**"Hostiles down! All clear!"**_

_Oghi's eyes widened as a squad of six armed soldiers rushed down the hall. All were wearing purple visors and clad in familiar, matching-black uniforms._

_One paused, and looked into the shared cell before immediately standing at attention._

_"General Tohdoh! Deputy Commander Oghi! Don't worry, we'll have you freed in just a moment."_

_"Yes!" Tamaki exclaimed, jumping to his feet with a wide, goofy smile on his face. "I told you it was Zero, I just knew it!"_

_The screeching sound of landspinners skidding to a halt outside their cell caused Oghi to turn around._

So it **was** them,_ he thought with a soft smile. He'd know the distinct design of Kallen's sleek Guren Mk-II anywhere._

_It didn't matter if Zero or Urabe had ordered this raid. Either way, Oghi knew they'd be okay now._

* * *

Tohdoh, now fully dressed again in his customized Black Knights uniform, stood with his fellow Holy Sword, Urabe, in the control room of the _Zouhan_. He watched Kallen and Oghi's reunion from afar with a small smile of his own.

"So what you're saying is that you came across Kiriara by chance?" the former Japanese Liberation Front general said.

"Yeah," Urabe replied, crossing his arms. "We were hiding out from Britannian patrols when the comm. guys picked up that transmission. Something about the Black Knight leaders and an 'Exile;' whatever that means. We already knew the Brits moved you and the others away from the Japanese mainland, but we figured it wasn't too far. They would definitely need leverage, just in case we showed our faces again."

"I see. So we were going to be used as bait," Tohdoh closed his eyes in thought for a moment before turning back to Urabe. "Strategically speaking, this operation was a foolish move on your part, Urabe. What if that transmission was a trap to lure the rest of you out of hiding?"

Urabe gave a sheepish grin. "Come on sir, you trained me way better than that. Of course we considered the dangers. I put it to a vote. The entire crew was all for this mission; how could I say no? Besides, it worked out in the end."

Tohdoh nodded, electing to drop the subject, though both of them knew that simply saying the operation worked was far too basic of an assessment. Yes, it had been successful, and over one-hundred-and-fifty members of the Black Knights had been rescued as a result along with nearly one-hundred other POWs, all of various nationalities. However, those gains had not come without a price. Twelve Burai were lost in total, and eight of their Devicers were killed either before they could eject or while their cockpits were in mid-flight. Five more from the infiltration team were injured from firefights in the prison itself, though fortunately for them, none of their wounds were life-threatening.

The Britannians took far worse casualties, losing almost all of their Sutherlands and Gloucesters. Both wardens had been killed, along with eighty percent of the staff. Non-combat personnel and survivors had been rounded up and treated for injuries, but most were being kept in prison cells in what was known as Cell Block A. All were under heavy guard while the Black Knights firmly established complete control over the prison.

Most of the former prisoners and Black Knight captives were being treated and housed in the prison's mess hall. Some were suffering from malnourishment and obvious signs of torture. As per Zero's orders before the Rebellion, no prejudice over who was given medical attention or the necessities was shown.

Oghi, Tohdoh, Chiba, and Tamaki were taken immediately to the _Zouhan_ for treatment and a change of clothes. Ryoga Senba, Shogo Asahina, Kent Sugiyama, Yoshitaka Minami, and other core members of the Black Knights lost at Tokyo were also recovered without injury and sent to the _Zouhan_. Since the medics cleared him, Tohdoh had been brought up to speed on all that had transpired since his capture. He was saddened to hear about the deaths of the Six Houses of Kyoto, though he remained hopeful that the rumors about Lady Kaguya's escape turned out to be true.

He was surprised that, oddly enough, Diethard Reid and Rakshata Chawla were nowhere to be found. The others swore they hadn't seen them at all during their time at Kiriara. Regardless, it was a matter for Zero to handle when he was able to, though Tohdoh had no doubt that their former leader knew exactly where the two were. _Speaking of Zero..._

"And what about Zero? How is he?" Tohdoh asked.

"Err...well, he's recovering from his injuries at the moment. C.C. is attending to him."

"Of course," Tohdoh snorted. "I'm surprised none of us heard that he was also being kept at that prison. Who would have thought the Britannians would allow him to live?"

"A few members from Third Squad found him in a remote section of the prison where high-ranking POWs were kept in solitary. He was in pretty bad shape when they found him, sir, or so I've heard. I wouldn't expect to hear from him at least until tomorrow."

Tohdoh softened his glare a bit. Though he dearly wanted answers about what happened during the Black Rebellion and Zero's mysterious disappearance, no human, miracle worker or otherwise, should be forced to suffer through ten months of solitary confinement. Man was a social creature, no matter how introverted some may be. To be deprived of that for so long would drive any man to madness.

"Very well. However, I and the others have quite a few questions for him when he _does _recover."

Urabe gave his leader a curt nod, his thoughts drifting to that mysterious witch of Zero's.

_I lied like you asked, C.C., though I hate doing it to Tohdoh of all people. I just hope you know what you're doing; I don't know how much longer we can keep this discovery of ours hushed up. What happens if you can't restore that kid's memories in time?_

* * *

_**Unknown Aquatic Vessel  
Unknown Date  
Unknown Time**_

Still dressed in his stolen Britannian guard uniform, Heero Yuy stretched out on the bed in the small cabin he had been placed in, hands folded behind his head. He stared up at the ceiling, eyes hardly blinking as he mulled over this latest predicament.

Since he surrendered to his captors outside the shuttle wreckage, he had been blindfolded, stripped of his duffel bag and marched through the jungle. It took at least an hour, but he remembered feeling a sea breeze and the soft depression of sand beneath his boots before the floor felt tough and metallic. When the blindfold finally came off, he was shoved inside the room he was currently in. He saw nothing but water outside the single, circular window. Either he was on a ship or a submarine, though he suspected it was the latter.

Things had gone completely to hell, even more than when he first awoke in this strange world. Wing Zero was gone and the shuttle destroyed, and his only contact in this bizarre world had vanished, too. Heero wasn't too worried about Lelouch, though. Unless they were sadistic, his captors didn't seem like the type to harm a common schoolboy. Not like the Britannians, at least.

No, he was far more concerned about what he found on that shuttle; or rather, what he _didn't _find.

* * *

_Wing Zero was gone._

_**Gone.**_

_The word repeated over and over again in Heero's mind like a continuous recording._

_As he shined the light attached to his MP5 where the Gundam had once rested in Fighter mode, he examined the area carefully for any remaining trace of its presence. _

_Nothing. No skid marks or distinguishable substances. Hell, he could even practically make out the pristine outline the Mobile Suit once occupied. _

_It didn't make sense; none of this did. The light...the world he was in, the wreck. Wing Zero's disappearance. Nothing._

_The shuttle groaned with every step he took as if it would collapse on him at any moment. He ignored it as he stepped over fallen equipment and insulated exhaust hoses strung out across the floor. The door separating the cockpit from the rest of the shuttle was lodged half-open, just enough for Heero to squeeze through without much trouble. _

_As he suspected, the interior was a complete mess. Instrument panels were smashed, the two pilot seats were ripped apart from debris, the sensor array and communication monitors were only shattered glass fragments and loose electrical wires now. However, they weren't what he was looking for. There was a small chance something he could use had survived the crash in one piece, though the compartment he stored it in was hardened to withstand just about any disaster._

_Heero looked above the pilot's seat. His breath hitched when he saw it. The door was dented, but the overhead compartment was still in one piece. Carefully, he stepped over some more debris and stood on what remained of the pilot's seat to reach the handle. He gave it a few tugs before a final yank opened the lid._

_His blue duffle bag, the only thing that held what little possessions he owned, was still there, untouched. He grabbed it and pulled it down to the floor. His compact laptop was beneath it, but it had met the same fate as the rest of the broken ship. Regardless, he could possibly repair it or at least salvage the hard drive. He took it and hopped off the destroyed pilot seat before unzipping the duffel bag._

_Everything was inside, just as he had left it. Spare clothing, including the blue jean jacket he had bought while visiting Trowa a month ago was neatly folded. He rummaged around through a small first-aid kit, some leftover Alliance and OZ MREs (2) he stole during the war, a few blank data disks, and several other trinkets, including a surveillance photo of Relena he snapped a long time ago. But the items he was really seeking were underneath all of that, and he was pleased to find them undamaged as well._

_Heero pulled out three spare magazines and finally his personal sidearm—a customized, refurbished pre-A.C. era Heckler and Koch USP Compact. He had picked it up shortly after the Eve Wars, and the pistol had proven its worth on more than one occasion. Most would call the pistol an antique compared to the ones more commonly used in the After Colony-era, but for Heero it was a reliable tool that hadn't failed him yet. Not that he would openly admit it, but he also had a soft spot for antique weaponry._

_The barrel was scratched up more than the last time he had used it, but as he took out the 13-round 9mm magazine and racked back the slide to inspect the inner-workings of the pistol, he was satisfied that it was still in perfect working order. _

_After giving it another once-over, he reinserted the magazine and put the pistol back in the duffel bag before zipping it up. He still had the MP5 to rely on, so he had no need for it at the moment. _

_As he grabbed the duffel bag and started to leave, his eyes fell upon a small, rectangular, black box buried beneath part of what used to be the navigation console. Curious, he lifted the rubble with a small grunt and kicked the box out with his boot. He dropped the remains of the console and picked up the box, brushing the dust off and keyed in the combination. The locks disengaged with a satisfying click as the lid opened._

_He couldn't believe his eyes. A dozen data disks lie within, all in protective polyester sleeves. _Are those what I think they are?

_Remembering he was on a tight schedule, he shut the lid, reopened the duffle bag and stuffed the box inside. He'd look them over later on. The computers in this world might not be compatible, but if he could possibly repair his laptop..._

_A blinking light of a cracked computer monitor caught the edge of his vision. He walked over, stepping over more debris until he was at the main computer. It was difficult to see at times what he was doing since the screen kept flickering on and off, but the very fact that the computer was even working was a miracle._

_He accessed the logs from the security camera he had installed in the cargo bay a few months ago to make sure no one tampered with Wing Zero. He scrolled through the list of recordings until he found the one dated "_August 20, A.C. 196_."_

_Heero fast-forwarded through the video, watching himself board Wing Zero in Fighter mode and lift off to go after the forces deployed from MO-VI. He waited until Wing Zero returned before hitting "Play" again. The screen continued flickering, but the shuttle began to shake as light filled the camera lens. He watched the light enveloped the entire cargo bay until it suddenly stopped._

_Remarkably, the camera was still rolling. When the light cleared, the cargo bay was intact, though Wing Zero was gone. He let the footage play for a bit longer, watching the shuttle shudder violently before the footage cut off completely. _

That's likely when the shuttle crashed,_ he thought._

_He replayed the footage again for a few minutes, though no matter how many times he watched it, nothing seemed to add up. After that flash of light, the Gundam was gone, as if it simply ceased to exist._

But that's not possible. Matter can neither be created nor destroyed. It has to be somewhere. That light transported me to this world along with the shuttle, yet I was found outside of it. Maybe Zero is somewhere else on the island?

_Thinking it over for a moment, he unzipped his duffle bag and took out one of the spare data disks. He copied the footage onto it before ejecting the disk and putting it back inside the bag. Before he closed it, he took out a small, circular, remote detonator._

_A quick diagnostic analysis on the computer told him that the shuttle's self-destruct was still intact. Judging by how crude their Mobile Suits (he still couldn't get used to the term "Knightmare Frame") were designed, Heero would wager that the beings of this world hadn't discovered space travel yet._

_And if that was true...he had no intention of helping them._

* * *

Though the resulting explosion was strangely satisfying to watch, it still didn't ease his troubled conscience. Wing Zero was already a walking time-bomb in his world. Heero could only imagine how easily this under-developed world would burn if someone were to fall under the ZERO System's seductive sway.

He couldn't do anything at the moment, not while he was in this place. For now, he'd simply plan out his next move when an opportunity presented itself. And priority number one was obtaining any information he could about this world.

* * *

_**Pacific Ocean, Black Knights Submarine **_**Zouhan  
**_**July 19th, 2018 a.t.b., Imperial Calendar  
**__**03:30 local time**_

Clad in her skin-tight flight suit, Kallen continued to pace in her quarters; a nervous habit she picked up in the last year whenever she was stressed. She sighed as she plopped down on her couch. Her thoughts once again turned to a certain raven-haired teen.

Urabe informed her in private, shortly before their little reunion party, that Lelouch had been found with an unknown Britannian soldier. He was truly back, though from what Urabe said, Lelouch had no idea where he was or who they all were. She knew he'd be like that; C.C. told her a while ago what happened in Britannia. But still, the thought of him all alone in that cabin, probably scared out of his mind with that slutty witch inching ever-so-slowly toward him—

She mentally slapped herself. _What the hell is wrong with you, Kozuki?_ she thought. _Who cares how he's feeling right now? He'll be back with us soon enough. Then I'll finally be able to get some answers... _

A knock outside her door interrupted her thoughts. Right before she opened it, the door unlocked. C.C. stepped through nonchalantly, a sly smile on her lips as she pocketed a card key in her cleavage. She was dressed in a revealing black dress; the one with the Black Knights crest (a silver winged Geass sigil with a sword through the center of it) sewn at the chest area. Dressed like that, it was no wonder why she was rumored to be Zero's mistress. Kallen couldn't help the pang of jealousy that rose within her.

"Wh—how did you even—"

"Master key," C.C. responded as she looked down at her nails as if they were the most interesting thing in the world. "Unlocks every door on the _Zouhan_. It's quite useful."

"Do you have _any _sense of decency?!" she exploded. "What if I was naked or something?!"

"All the better for me, then," C.C. looked up at the redhead with a lecherous smile, licking her lips as if she found herself a meal.

"Y—you!" Kallen stuttered, a blush creeping on her cheeks as she glared at the immortal witch. "You're unbelievable, you know that? How does Lelouch even put up with you?!"

"He knows how to satisfy me, girl," C.C. purred as Kallen sputtered, her cheeks turning even redder as she tried to stop her vivid imagination from running wild. "You could always join us, you know. I'm sure he wouldn't mind. I know I wouldn't...you could take top while I take bottom…"

Kallen glared daggers at the witch. "Like hell I'd ever do something that disgusting with you two!"

"Too bad; your loss," C.C. smirked, her golden eyes filled with amusement. "While we're on the subject of Lelouch, I wanted to let you know that I'm on my way to unseal his memories."

Kallen's eyes lit up, though she was confused. "Why are you—"

"—no reason, really. I just thought you'd want to know," C.C. cut her off as she turned back around and glided out of the room, leaving Kallen even more conflicted than before. She finally undressed and tried to sleep while she waited for any news. But no matter how hard she tried, the realm of sleep continued to escape her.

* * *

Lelouch Lamperouge sat on the bed in a luxurious room the blue-haired soldier had brought him to. It was quite spacious for a room on a submarine. It was furnished with a circular couch, TV, and even a separate bedroom and bathroom. Though he was still incredibly confused as to why an armed force of Japanese rebels were treating him, a Britannian schoolboy, with such hospitality, he wasn't so stunned as to not take advantage of the opportunity while he had it.

His mind wandered briefly to Heero and how he was fairing. _Probably not nearly as well as I am… _

Since he had nothing else to do, Lelouch took a shower and dressed in a black t-shirt and jeans that, to his surprise, fit him perfectly. He ate some food out of the small fridge and browsed through the channels on the TV before promptly falling asleep for about an hour.

When he woke, he decided to walk around the room, checking out the large stack of pizza boxes stacked haphazardly in the corner. His thoughts returned to Rolo. Was his younger brother alright? Had he been captured by the Britannians too? Why were they so special to the Empire? All he could do was hope that Rolo was okay, and that if he was still at Ashford, that the rest of the Student Council would take care of him. He knew they would; they were all like family, after all.

He opened the closet and rummaged through empty shoeboxes and discarded clothes that had fallen from the hangers until a black bag in the back, away from everything else, caught his attention. He pulled it out and unzipped it, and gasped at what he saw. Gently, with trembling hands, he picked up the object.

It was a mask; a purple, faceless one with small, demonic wings attached to the sides that stuck out around the back. He'd know it anywhere from the news reports, though for some reason he felt a...connection to it. Wait a moment...was this _his_ room? Wasn't that man supposed to be dead?

"It's heavy, isn't it?"

Lelouch panicked and stuffed the helmet back in the bag, spinning around to come face to face with an attractive girl with green hair around his age. She was dressed in an elegant dress that reached down to her ankles, though it exposed her slender legs. A familiar symbol was etched on the breast area. Lelouch turned his gaze downward; he didn't want to stare, even if his hormones secretly enjoyed what he saw.

"What do you mean?" he mumbled.

The girl took a step towards him. "Whoever wears that mask also bears a heavy burden. The fate of the world and all of Japan rests on their shoulders."

"What are you talking about?" Lelouch asked, rising to his feet. "That's a terrorist's mask. I'm not a terrorist. I'm just a normal student with a brother back at home. He's probably worried sick about me."

"Wrong," the girl replied. "That is your mask. And this is where you belong."

"Wha—"

He didn't have another moment to think before he felt the girl's hands grasp his face, forcing her lips to press against his own. His vision was obscured by a bright light.

* * *

_"What—what is all of this?"_

Pictures and faces flashed before him in black and white hues. A crying young royal; three children wading through a sea of gruesome corpses; two laughing boys chasing each other as they played tag. A blinded, frail girl in a wheelchair with a loving, gentle smile. The green-haired woman from before with golden eyes...another woman with fiery red hair clutching a pistol with tears in her cerulean eyes...two friends facing off at gunpoint.

That mask...

_Zero…_

_**"Do you remember now?"**_ the green-haired girl's voice echoed through his mind. He felt something inside of him crack.

His eyes widened. Her voice was the same one he heard in the prison.

_"I don't understand..."_

_**"You and I have a contract, one that gives you the power to command others to follow your every desire. In return, all I asked was for you to grant me one wish when the time came." **_

More images flashed before him. A ruined ghetto, the green-haired girl taking a bullet for him...a power that crackled with violent energy in his eyes. _Geass..._

_C.C..._

She appeared before him, completely naked in this white, empty world. With a glance down at his torso he realized that he, too, was naked.

_**"Do you remember your desire? On the day we met, you set out to destroy the empire that your homeland had created. The very same homeland that claimed the life of your mother, crippled your sister and sent you and your sister away to be used as political bargaining tools by your father. You swore vengeance, all so you could rebuild this world into a gentler one. A world free of war and discrimination, where your sister Nunnally could find happiness, and live out her days in peace."**_

The vision of the girl in the wheelchair ran through his mind. One of her smiling, another of her sitting at the kitchen table, folding origami cranes. The sight brought tears to his eyes.

_Nunnally!_

_**"You started a revolution; became a masked vigilante known as Zero. You started your own group in the name of justice, a group devoted to liberating Japan from its oppressors. The Black Knights. Those that are the sword and shield of those who are weak, no matter their nationality or social status."**_

Faces of old allies ran though his mind, images of the Ashford Student Council and those less familiar, though one stuck out in particular. That fire and spunk he found so endearing and admirable, her flaming red hair and her intense blue eyes that both chilled and comforted him at the same time. His personal bodyguard, schoolmate and most loyal supporter...his _Q-1_...

_Kallen!_

The glass-like seal inside his mind cracked even more.

_**"Your revolution grew with each victory over Britannia, but each one came with a cost. There were hardships, but many of them we faced together." **_

Shirley's lifeless expression in the rain when she lost her father...a sadistic lunatic named Mao who had once been an accomplice to C.C. also...the butcher of countless Japanese by Britannian soldiers; a Geass-crazed princess with pink hair at the forefront, firing a stolen assault rifle at the crowd with a fanatical smile...

_Euphie!_

The seal in his mind cracked in half.

_**"That massacre started the Black Rebellion. You gathered your strength and fought for Japan's independence, only to be called away because your sister was in danger. It was there that you encountered someone you once called your best friend. Though you disagree with him and have different means of achieving the same goal, you still care about him. He revealed your secret, defeated you and brought you back before your father, disgraced and humiliated."**_

Suzaku Kururugi's anguished face appeared in his mind, guided by blind anger because Lelouch had killed the woman he loved; the very same woman that was Lelouch's sister. A surge of rage coursed through his veins.

_Suzaku!_

The glass-like seal in his mind was completely cracked.

The visions stopped as C.C. appeared before him once again. _**"Your father also has Geass. His is the Power of Absolute Memory. It allows Charles to manipulate the memories of others to his liking. He rewrote yours, replacing them with ones of a false life. A life where you never became Zero, nor had any ties to royalty, or even a sister. He was supposed to have sent you back to Japan to draw me out of hiding, though I along with your followers found you before he could set his plans into motion."**_

She walked up to him, a hand coming to rest on his cheek. _**"Now, I ask you again, Lelouch. Do you remember?"**_

The visions collided into one another, each one bursting though his vision like a river exploding through a dam, unleashing a torrent of feelings.

The seal in his mind shattered into tiny fragments, leaving nothing but the glowing, bird-like red sigil of Geass in its wake.

_Yes..._ he thought, his memories starting to return. _I once promised that Britannia would pay for what it had done to Nunnally and I. For what it had done to Japan; to the world! Suzaku betrayed me to my father, but even that wasn't enough. False memories as part of an equally false life—how __**dare**__ he! How dare __**that man**__ take away __**everything **__that was important to me?! _

_He'll pay...they'll both pay! And I won't stop, not until Nunnally's dream has finally been realized! __I solemnly swear to God and every deity there is and ever will be as my witnesses. This time I will completely...OBLITERATE BRITANNIA!_

* * *

The world came back into focus. The frail, unknown student known as Lelouch Lamperouge was gone. In his place stood the world's most dangerous man. The mastermind behind an organization who would bring the mightiest empire the world had ever seen to its knees. The empire that was his heritage would also become the enemy he would reduce to ruin. All for Nunnally's sake.

C.C. stepped back and gave him a small smile as he opened his eyes. She broke into a formal bow, crossing one hand over her heart and holding her other out behind her like a stage performer. "We await your command, my accomplice."

Lelouch Vi Britannia smiled; a most wicked, twisted smile. The scarlet power of his Geass shone alight in his left eye, completely reborn and burning with vengeance.

Zero, the Man of Miracles and the bane of Britannia's existence, had returned.

**"Well then..."** he grinned, **"shall we resume the game?"**

* * *

_-Index-_

**1) POW:** Prisoner of War

**2) MRE:** Meal Ready to Eat

_-Review Replies-_

_**Guest:**_** Thank you for the review! Glad you're enjoying the story so far.**

_-Notes-_

**As I once said in the original story, our favorite Demon is back, ladies and gentlemen (though whether he'll truly have to become one this time around remains to be seen...).**

**Reviews are always appreciated, and thank you for the astounding reviews I've been getting and for all the story and author adds/alerts! My apologies for getting this out later than I wanted to, but real life has been brutal lately. Remember, check my author profile periodically for the latest progress updates for the next mission. And as always, thanks for reading. Happy Single's Awareness Day!**

**See you next mission,**

**-Sheik**


	7. Mission 06

"The Earth has great beauty. The animals known as humans have acquired such strength that they even think about controlling this planet for themselves. From the point of view of a planet's life, the life of a living thing lasts no more than an instant. But in the end, it is only themselves that humans can think of. Nothing changes."

-_ Heero Yuy, A.C. 195_

* * *

**-Mission 06: Project Stargate-**

_**Pendragon, Holy Britannian Empire  
July 18th, 2018 a.t.b., Imperial Calendar  
18:25 Pacific Standard Time**_

"So then...my errant son received help from the outside?"

"Yes, Your Majesty. The Exile's escape coincided with an attack by a still-unconfirmed enemy force. We suspect it was the remnants of the Black Knights, but we can't say for sure yet. By the time reinforcements arrived, they and most of the prisoners on Kiriara Island were gone."

"How...irritating," the intimidating giant of a man known as Charles Zi Britannia growled, fists tightening on the arms of his regal throne. "I had a feeling that weakling Renard would screw up; that's why I sent you to make sure Zero's transfer to the Area Eleven OSI branch went smoothly. But Bramson was far more competent of a soldier, even with his...flawed body. His defeat reflects poorly on the entire Empire."

The 98th Emperor of the Holy Britannian Empire narrowed his eyes at the cowardly Three (and Honorary Britannian) before him. "You do realize your failure has jeopardized months of preparation, Operative Chavez? Now it will be next to impossible to lure C.C. out into the open."

The OSI mole bowed his head as he kneeled, his arm still in a sling from where a piece of rubble from the tower had crushed it. "Forgive me, Your Highness, I was unprepared. I accept full responsibility for this failure."

"Good. Then that makes your punishment easier to administer." The Emperor's piercing gaze turned toward the space behind the disgraced agent. "Bismarck, dispose of this numbered trash."

Chavez's eyes went wide with fright as he leapt to his feet. But before he could move an inch, he felt pain surge through his chest. He looked down to where the point of a sword protruded from his heart. He felt the Knight of One's calm breathing over his right shoulder.

"It's nothing personal, Three. You're just a loose end, and we can't have any of those," he muttered into the dead man's ear as Chavez's lifeless body slid off of Excalibur and collapsed onto the floor. Bismark flicked the blood off his treasured golden-hilted sword and returned it to the sheath at his left hip. He bowed to his master before returning to the shadows of the throne room.

Charles pondered his options in silence for a moment, reflecting on his meddlesome son and the pathetic band of numbered riffraff he had gathered to his cause in the past year. All wasn't completely lost; if C.C. wasn't with the Black Knights, they might simply mistake the boy for another prisoner. The false memories would still be intact, and Lelouch could eventually make his way back to Ashford Academy on his own. The original plan could still work, with a few adjustments of course.

Without moving, Charles spoke to the shadows again.

"Bismarck, contact Baroness Villetta Nu. Make sure the OSI unit at Ashford remains in place and that she maintains her cover. If Lelouch turns up, I want to know about it at once. Order her to proceed as planned and assume that his memories have not returned. If they have, she's to contact me immediately for further instructions."

Bismarck Waldstein came back into the light, bowing. "As you command, My Liege."

As he walked out, a shorter figure stepped out from behind Charles' chair, his long blonde hair nearly reaching the floor.

"Are you sure this is wise? Assuming Lelouch will not regain his memories?"

Charles smirked. "If he has, it's of little concern. In fact, it will make things more interesting to watch. All that matters is C.C. and the Ragnarok Connection. Everything else is trivial." Charles looked back at his older brother. "Even if Lelouch does restart his little rebellion, it would only work to our advantage. Schneizel is the only one who suspects something. If Zero were to reappear, he would divert all of his time and attention to him. We'd be free to focus on final preparations for the Thought Elevators and the Sword of Akasha."

V.V. suppressed a scowl; Marianne's little demon spawn was becoming far too troublesome at a time when they couldn't afford a wild card. Of course, he wouldn't dare tell his older brother that. Regardless, if Lelouch became a problem, it was nothing the Geass Order's mole in OSI couldn't handle.

"I'll defer to your judgment then, Charles," V.V. said. "One more thing—that energy spike that appeared over Area Eleven—"

"—is nothing to be concerned about," Charles finished. "I've already had OSI look into it. Seems like Schneizel is playing around with that little science project of his. Let him have his fun. Such mundane affairs are trivial, after all."

"All that matters is Ragnarok," V.V. remarked before the throne room become silent once more while Charles awaited Bismarck's return.

_A world without lies. That's what makes all of this bloodshed worth it. Right Charles?_

* * *

_**Dallas Research Institute, Holy Britannian Empire  
July 18th, 2018 a.t.b., Imperial Calendar  
19:01 Pacific Standard Time**_

The blinding light was astonishing; Second Prince Schneizel el Britannia had never seen anything like it before in his life. It was if a bright sun had manifested in the middle of the desert and disappeared just as quickly. In a way, it was simply divine. And to think, it all spawned from the brilliant mind of a simple Britannian schoolgirl from Area Eleven. A schoolgirl that was now chief of this small side project.

A winning smile adorned the Prime Minister's handsome face as he glanced at Nina Einstein, who was hard at work initiating the proper cooldown procedures.

"Very impressive, Nina," Schneizel remarked as he and the other observers removed their safety goggles. "To think after only a few months, you and your team have come this far. This is remarkable!"

The green-haired genius gave him a shy smile. "Thank you, Your Highness."

Schneizel gave her another fond look before turning to face a mixed group of Barons, Dukes, and Lords, all of which were still visibly stunned by what they had just witnessed. Though Dallas and the In Vogue team were primarily backed by Schneizel's own financial investments (like many other Britannian military research projects around the globe), it never hurt to ask for more "donations" here and there.

"As you just saw, the FLEIJA. project is proceeding smoothly. We anticipate reaching the desired energy output upon detonation within the next few months to a year. Once that's been done, we can move on to field testing. If the war with the E.U. isn't won by that point, well...let's just say we'll have another bargaining chip on the negotiation table."

He paused to look at every single investor before continuing. "This will mark the beginning of a new age of deterrence for the Britannian Empire and the world. With this ace in the hole, we can finally establish firm, long-lasting peace. I can't thank you all enough for all of your support. Now, if you'll excuse me. Gentlemen…"

Schneizel nodded to his "personal" aide, Earl Kanon Maldini, as the loyal youth led the group out of the control room. Once they were a fair distance away, he returned his attention to the In Vogue chief once more.

"I meant what I said, Nina. I can't believe how much progress you've made."

She blushed, looking down at her feet as if they were the most interesting thing in the world. "Thank you again, Your Highness. I mean, the blast radius still isn't exactly to your requests from the last meeting, and we're still dealing with issues with the sakuradite, and..."

"Nina," he purred, placing a hand on her shoulder, "don't be so hard on yourself. You've come so far, already. I know you'll have the final product ready in time. Just remember to pace yourself, okay? I'm positive Euphie wouldn't want you to wear yourself out, either."

Nina gazed into his eyes, her cheeks flush with embarrassment. "Well, I, uh..."

"She'd be so proud of you. Projects like these will prevent more wars from starting up around the globe. And it will prevent rebels like Zero from ever harming innocent people again."

Nina's eyes darkened at the mention of the masked vigilante. "Right, Your Majesty. I won't let you down," she said, pushing up her glasses as she returned to her work under the artificial lighting.

After a short farewell and making her promise to sleep sometime tonight, Schneizel left the control room and headed for the elevator. Things were proceeding far quicker than he expected with FLEIJA. It was extremely fortunate that his men extracted Nina when they did during the Black Rebellion. She was a sweet girl and quite easy to manipulate, especially when one mentioned the words "Euphie" and "Zero" in the same sentence. Her device could easily become the most powerful weapon in the world once it was completed. Not even his flagship, the _Avalon_, with its advanced Blaze Luminous shielding that had become standard issue on all newer airships and floating fortresses, could stand up to such a raw display of power.

Kanon rejoined Schneizel in the elevator as they descended to one of the hardened underground facilities beneath the Dallas Research Institute.

"They were quite pleased with the demonstration, My Lord."

"As they should be, Kanon. Nina has worked very hard on FLEIJA. It will be the key to establishing peace in the coming year. The fear of a FELIJA launch will bring both the Euro Universe and the Chinese Federation to their knees."

The elevator became silent once more as it continued to descend. The war with the E.U. was going well and there were little to no uprisings from conquered Areas, but that seemed to be the only positive things. For one, Cornelia was still missing in action, despite his best attempts to find her after the Black Rebellion. He hoped she was still alive; losing Euphemia during the uprising had been hard enough. His father was still being the uncaring, selfish bastard he always was, and now Schneizel was convinced he was up to something. He still didn't have proof, but it would only be a matter of time before the truth would surface at least.

_Odysseus and my other siblings are blind if they think Father's absences at court aren't suspicious,_ Schneizel thought. _Or perhaps they're too concerned with who will succeed Father on the throne. Cornelia was the only one who saw past that and agreed with me. Now that she's gone, I don't have many allies left that I can trust. _

Strangely, his thoughts turned to his long-dead brother, Lelouch. The only one of his siblings who had been a challenge, and the only one he could never beat at chess. And the only one he ever fully trusted.

_If only he was still alive,_ Schneizel thought. _Both he and Nunnally. I have no doubt Lelouch would see past the lies, just as I have. Together we maybe could have even toppled Father's regime. A man who cares nothing for his own daughter's disappearance, let alone blatantly refused to be present at poor Euphemia's funeral, has no right to rule over the most powerful empire in the world!_

He quickly pushed such traitorous thoughts out of his mind as the elevator reached its destination, opening to a massive hanger full of various Knightmares and other projects. Many were reminiscent of the Camelot team and its pride and joy, the Z-01 Lancelot. In fact, because of Knight of Seven Suzaku Kururugi's success in the Black Rebellion and in the E.U. campaign, the Seventh-Generation Knightmare Frame was in the process of being adapted for mass-production as quickly as possible.

To his knowledge, only one prototype had been produced so far. The "Vincent," that's what the developers had decided upon for a name. Nowhere near as elegant a name as "Lancelot," in Schneizel's opinion, but field tests with the unit so far had yielded impressive results.

A balding engineer he barely remembered greeted them and escorted the pair to what he was down here for—the _other_ project at Dallas. The one only he and very few others knew about. As far as even his father was concerned, it didn't exist. Such a thing was merely the subject of science fiction.

He watched intently out of the corner of his eye as workers welded together parts to Knightmares, airships, and other small projects while engineers in lab coats ran simulations, gave direction, and even participated in construction, in some cases. From an outsider's point of view, it might appear as if the facility was gearing up for a small-scale war. But the cold reality was that many of these creations would never see the light of day.

"—and Project Firewalker is making slow, but steady progress, as you can see over there. Oh, and I suppose I should also mention Project Overlord while I'm at it—"

"—what about Project Stargate?" Schneizel interrupted the engineer. "Have there been any more developments since your last report?"

The engineer's jaw tightened as his tone became far more reserved. "Well...Your Highness, with respect, I think we should wait until we reach the device before explaining more."

Schneizel only gave a curt nod as the man led them out of the hanger and into a maze of winding corridors lined with doors until they reached the end, where a reinforced blast door awaited them. The engineer placed his palm on the hand scanner next to it. As he did, a panel at eye-level opened up, revealing a retinal scanner. The azure light scanned his eye for a few moments before closing.

_"Identity confirmed. Access Granted."_

The doors slowly slid open, revealing a room even bigger than the hanger. At its center, raised on a platform, was one of the largest spherical devices ever conceived by mankind. It was easily twenty meters high, far bigger than any Knightmare in existence. Scientists and engineers all paled when they saw who it was that walked through their door. Immediately they stopped whatever it was they were doing at the time and saluted their prince. He simply smiled and dismissed them all with a casual wave. While most returned to work, one of the researchers approached them. A rather attractive one at that, in Schneizel's opinion.

"Your Highness, so pleased you could come on such short notice," the black-haired woman said with a smile. "Dr. Lawson, at your service. I'm one of the top researchers on Project Stargate."

Schneizel took her hand in his, raising it to his lips. Nothing was ever too important for pleasantries to not be exchanged. Besides, he truly did respect and admire all of those who followed his command. Especially those who didn't need any type of "persuasion" to do so.

"A pleasure to finally meet you in person, Doctor. Hmm...did you graduate from Harvard, by chance? I seem to remember something about it in your file."

She blushed but tried to remain as professional as possible. "Likewise, Prince Schneizel. And yes, I'm a Harvard graduate, but I conducted my post-grad and doctorate work in astrophysics at Yale."

"That's a curious field to get into, doctor," Kanon spoke up from behind with a smile. "Forgive me, but many wouldn't choose such a field in today's world, especially a lovely woman such as you."

She snorted. "Britannia has focused all of its resources on dominating this world when we should be trying to discover other ones. Think of how far we could expand our empire if we simply journeyed into the final frontier! We could colonize the moon, see if there really is life on Mars as some of our top scholars have theorized..."

"Agreed," Schneizel sighed. "However, the Emperor never has been interested in what's beyond our planet. That's why it's up to me and others who share my interests in the royal family to finance projects like yours. Anyway, about the last activation..."

"Oh, yes. If you'll follow me, I'll show you what our satellites in orbit picked up less than twenty-four hours ago."

She led the two royals to a large viewscreen, where she input a few commands. Several images taken from a Britannian spy satellite in orbit above the Pacific Ocean came up on screen.

"As you know, Prince Schneizel, we ran our second test on Project Stargate yesterday as scheduled. It was supposed to be a controlled test, unlike last time, and we tried to compensate for unstable anomalies and the large power draw the project consumes with a shorter operational period. But there were some unforeseen...complications, again. Fortunately, nothing actually came through the sphere like last time. However, something else happened, on another part of the planet no less. We had no idea such energy could manifest so far away from the main device."

"Would it have to do with what we're seeing on-screen, right now?"

"Yes sir," Dr. Lawson pointed to the first few images, where a grayish streak surrounded by fire, almost like a comet, appeared and disappeared. "This is the first anomaly we detected. Energy signatures consistent with Project Stargate manifested over this part of the Pacific near Area Eleven. It was moving at such an alarming speed, our satellites couldn't get a clear image, but we traced its possible landing site to one of several islands in the vicinity."

"Prince Schneizel, look," Kanon whispered, pointing to a larger image with several red marks and circles on it. "Isn't Kiriara Island near there?"

"It is," Schneizel frowned. His spies in OSI had reported that something had happened at the prison there, but couldn't find out what. He did know that there was a riot on the island, and that all contact with it had ceased shortly after it occurred. It was troubling, but so far no updates on the situation had reached his ears. When he returned to the _Avalon_, he would check for more news.

_Perhaps the riot had something to do with this. It's too...convenient to be a mere coincidence_, he thought.

"That's not all we found, sir. There was another anomaly, not far from the first. It happened right before we deactivated Project Stargate. Because of the first anomaly, we got much clearer images. It...well, I've never seen anything else like it."

Dr. Lawson brought up more images on the viewscreen, however these ones were slightly more enhanced and defined.

It looked like some kind of mechanical bird or fighter jet, though nothing like Schneizel had ever seen before. The "head" was a crimson color with white eyes. Two devices that looked like cannons jutted out from both sides. The "wings" were majestic, and the rest of the body resembled an advanced Knightmare Frame, if anything. It almost reminded him of the Knight of Three's new Tristan Knightmare Frame, when transformed into its so-called "Fortress Mode."

_It could be an advanced prototype from the Chinese Federation, or even India,_ he thought. _But if it really did originate from Project Stargate, perhaps it's similar to the other one..._

"Did you calculate a landing projection?"

"Unfortunately My Lord, the object crashed into the Pacific. In particular, right near the Devil's Triage."

_Damn it._ _Anywhere but there._

The Devil's Triage was a triangular segment of the Pacific Ocean, notably in the Philippine Sea. Sailors from olden times spoke of strange activity in the area, and many ships had gone missing there over the years. Even now, the Britannian Navy kept as far from the area as possible. Of course, Schneizel didn't believe in such fairy tales, but the unpredictable weather patterns in that area would prove to be a problem.

"How soon could we organize a salvage team?" he asked.

"I've already looked into it. We do have some submarines already there, but so far their search hasn't turned up anything at all. Due to the size of the crash area along with most of the Britannian Navy's resources being diverted to the war against the E.U., Britannia's presence in that part of the Pacific is minimal at best. It'll take some time to get the necessary equipment and personnel, even with your direct intervention, My Lord. There is also thought to be raw, untapped sakuradite buried deep beneath that area. Considering how it plays havoc with sonar and thermal imaging, it could turn into quite a difficult search."

While most men would have flown into a fit of rage at the statement, Schneizel calmly nodded his head, continuing to stare at the image. He was a patient man, and though he could be a dangerous opponent in war, he was equally a reasonable, shrewd diplomat. If waiting meant a new weapon to use against Britannia's enemies (or even his Father when the time came), he would gladly do it.

"Very well, but I'd like to quietly relocate some of your staff to the research facility in Area Twelve. As soon as we have the resources, we can send out a salvage party. I'll have a small ship and Knightmare presence maintained there as well. One advantage to that part of the Pacific is that folk lore will keep out pirates and other salvagers. Until I say otherwise, please suspend all work on Project Stargate. As of now, recovery of that object is your team's primary objective."

"Of course, Prince Schneizel. Now, if you'll excuse me, I have preparations to make and a report to finish. But it was truly a pleasure meeting you. I hope we'll meet again in the future."

Schneizel smiled again. "Likewise, Dr. Lawson. Thank you for your insight."

She blushed again as she hurried away, calling out to other scientists. Schneizel ordered Kanon to ready the _Avalon_ for departure to the frontlines of the E.U. As he gave a final look at the image, another man approached him from behind. He silently stood next to the Second Prince, staring intently at the image as well.

"What do you think? Recognize it?" Schneizel asked.

The man paused, narrowing his eyes. "Perhaps, but I'd have to see it for myself up close to know for sure."

"Is it similar to yours?"

"Yes," the man confirmed without a hint of hesitation.

"I see. A friend?"

The man smirked. "You could say that. If he's here, he'll show himself soon enough."

"Very well, then. Keep me posted on your progress."

The man nodded as Schneizel walked away, disappearing behind the blast doors as they closed once again. The lone man stared at the screen for a moment longer before closing it.

_I had a feeling you'd be drawn here. It seems our fates are intertwined, after all._

* * *

_**Pacific Ocean, Black Knights Submarine **_**Zouhan**  
_**July 19th, 2018 a.t.b., Imperial Calendar**_  
_**08:51 local time**_

"...I see. So we lost nearly everything, did we?"

Lelouch mulled over what C.C. had told him about the months he had been "absent," so to speak, as he donned the Zero costume once more.

"Yes, to put it mildly," C.C. replied as she munched away on her fifth box of pizza. How the witch managed to order pizza aboard the _Zouhan_ was something he didn't want to know.

In short, his rebellion had gone straight to hell. All of the forces he had amassed to his cause had been mostly disbanded. The Black Knights had been defeated, his father Geassed him and erased his memories, and Japan was currently in an even worse place than before Zero's debut.

He wasn't exactly mad at her for letting Zero's identity be known to Urabe, though he wasn't pleased either. Fortunately, the man was completely loyal to Zero, which would make him easy to work with. It might even be beneficial in the long run to have another person on his side who knew he was a Britannian.

Kallen, however, was another story. The vision of her running from that cave on Kamine Island with tears in her eyes still haunted him. He knew she had worked just as hard as C.C. to recover him, but to what end? Did she hate him now? Would it jeopardize her loyalty now that she knew that Lelouch Lamperouge and Zero were one and the same? He half-expected her to meet him with the business end of a pistol the next time they were alone.

_She's bound to have questions, it's human nature,_ Lelouch thought. _But how much should I tell her? If she knew too much...she could be used against me. Just like Shirley.. _

"And Nunnally?" he asked, afraid of the answer.

C.C. actually looked truly remorseful, for once. "I'm sorry, Lelouch. We couldn't find her. No one's seen her since the Black Rebellion."

That stung, but all hope wasn't lost. If anything, it made Lelouch even more determined. _I'll find you, Nunnally, I swear it._

"I'm not sure why Charles wanted her, but it wasn't hard to figure out what he wanted you for," C.C. continued. "That's why he engineered this elaborate setup to go along with the false memories. He could have even Geassed your friends on the Council, for all we know."

It was ironic, now that Lelouch thought about it. All along he had used the Black Knights and other people under his control as pawns toward his ultimate desires. And yet, he was used by his own father as a pawn in a grander scheme, as well. Perhaps they really were more alike than he originally thought, after all. Try as he might, another memory he couldn't get out of his head was how Suzaku had defeated him and brought him before his Father.

_He was my best friend, and yet he tossed me aside like garbage to become a Knight of the Round,_ he growled inwardly. _Together we could have saved her, yet he chose his own twisted loyalty to Britannia over us._ _That traitorous bastard! Suzaku...you'll pay dearly the next time I see you!_

"How many of our forces did we liberate when we took Kiriara?" Lelouch asked as he fastened his black cloak around his neck. If C.C. noticed how quickly he changed the subject, she didn't say anything.

"From our earliest estimates, I'd say about sixty-five percent. The rest either deserted, or were executed by Britannian forces."

"I can work with that," Lelouch remarked, sliding on his gloves. "When the Black Knights resurface, we'll have more than enough recruits to make up for what we've lost."

"And how do you plan on doing that? Getting your Black Knights back into the fight, that is?"

Lelouch took the helmet that was his salvation and curse all in one off the coffee table and locked it into place with an audible _hiss_.

"Very carefully," Zero's voice resounded. "Have Urabe gather the top members in the conference room in an hour. It's time I announced our next move. But first, I have to take care of some business."

C.C. gave a wistful smile. "You mean that cute Japanese boy you found?"

"More like he found me," Lelouch said, ignoring her tone. "He said his name was Heero Yuy, and he helped me escape from Kiriara. I don't know if he's an ally or not, but I can't take any chances. I wouldn't put it past my father to have a contingency plan ready should the worst happen. Even if he is Japanese, money and power can easily sway even the most pious and honorable of men."

Making sure his mask was secure, Lelouch left the confines of his personal quarters, heading directly for the brig, only stopping to return salutes from passing Black Knights.

* * *

With one more grunt, Heero completed his five-hundredth push-up before collapsing on the floor, taking shallow breaths as sweat dripped from his face.

With nothing else to do, he took the time to simply sleep up until an hour ago. He ate the food that was provided, removed the Britannian uniform so that he was clad in his usual black shorts and green jersey, and started a small workout regimen. Having gravity to work with again after being out in space for so long was a minor shock to his body, but also a welcoming one. Prolonged time in space often resulted in muscle atrophy. Heero wanted to make sure he was still in top shape.

He got up off the floor and wiped the sweat from his forehead with the stolen uniform. As he set it down, the door behind him slid open. What appeared was one of the more unusual sights he had ever seen.

It was a masked man (or woman, though the build of the person seemed to be male), classically dressed in a purple dress suit with a black cape surrounding him, much like some kind of bat. Heero was reminded briefly of the wings on Duo's new Deathscythe Hell. The mask was the most intriguing, however, as there was no face on it.

"At last we meet, Heero Yuy," the figure finally spoke in a distorted, electronic voice. Clearly he was paranoid about anyone discovering his true identity.

Heero stood at full height, carefully eyeing this...man before him. "You know my name?"

The masked figure nodded as he walked into the room. "Indeed I do. The schoolboy you rescued, Lelouch Lamperouge, is a vital part of my organization. He told me everything you did for him. For that, you have my thanks. In case you're curious, he's being well taken care of. I was incapacitated at the time, so I couldn't personally see to his safety."

Heero nodded, keeping his steel gaze on the figure. "Who are you? And if you're feeling so thankful, why am I being confined here?"

"You mean you don't recognize me?" he asked, sounding genuinely stunned. "Forgive me for sounding conceded, but this mask was on display all over the world last year. I find it impossible that you have no idea who I am."

"I...don't exactly watch the news," Heero responded cryptically. He had to choose his words carefully with this man; he seemed to be the leader. The man regarded Heero for a moment before finally responding.

"Very well, then. My name is Zero, and I am the leader of the Order of the Black Knights," he said with flourish of his cape, stretching out his hands in a wide display. "We are knights for justice, and enemies of those who oppress the weak, specifically Britannia."

"Zero, huh?" Heero questioned, his thoughts briefly turning to his lost Gundam. Fate had a sense of humor, all right. "And what is Britannia? A nation of some kind?"

"It's the most powerful empire on the face of this Earth. You can't tell me that you've lived on this planet and not heard of Britannia at least once." The masked man watched him intently for a moment. "Do you have amnesia?"

Heero thought about his answer, pondering what he should do. He didn't trust this "Zero," and until he knew more about this world and its inhabitants, he was foraging blindly in the woods without a compass.

"...Yes," Heero said. "All I know is that I'm a soldier. I was taken to that prison and broke out when I awoke. I found Lelouch, decided not to leave an innocent to suffer, and escaped with him."

"I see..." Zero trailed off. "I'm afraid that until we can ascertain you're not a security risk, you must remain in here for now. But regardless of whom you are, I suppose I do owe you a favor for bringing Lelouch back to us. Is there something I could do to jog your memory, perhaps?"

"If you would allow me access to something with information on history, I'm sure I could remember bits and traces. Also, I'd like my duffel bag returned."

"Done," Zero nodded. "I'll have anything that isn't a weapon returned to you along with a laptop. You may also access the internet, with restrictions of course."

Heero nodded, pleased that he will finally get some answers. "That sounds fair to me."

Zero nodded back. "Good. Now, I have some business to attend to, but it was a pleasure meeting you, Heero Yuy. Lelouch tells me your combat skills are impressive. Considering your heritage, I hope we can become allies in the future. I shall return later to check on you."

Heero pondered Zero's words as the masked man left the room with a flourish of his cape. _My...heritage? What does that have to do with anything?_

* * *

Lelouch continued to think about Heero Yuy as he walked down the hall.

He could have easily Geassed the truth out of him; the option was incredibly tempting, especially since this "Heero" was definitely lying about having amnesia. A master of lies such as himself could spot one a mile away. Plus, he still had no idea what that aircraft was that Heero had blown up back on the island. However, the problem with his Geass in particular was that it could only be used once per person.

No, perhaps Heero might open up to him with time. Lelouch would keep Geass as a trump card for now if he became a problem.

Lelouch wasn't lying when he said he hoped the two could become allies. Though his skills with a Knightmare weren't quite on the same level as say, Kallen, Heero was still an incredible soldier. Someone with his skill set would be an invaluable addition to the Black Knights, especially since he was Japanese.

C.C. radioed him moments ago and said that Urabe was gathering the others. With just over half an hour left until the meeting, he decided to head back to his quarters to relax and mentally prepare. There was quite a bit of explaining to do, especially concerning Zero's disappearance at the end of the Black Rebellion.

Perhaps he could lie; maybe say that he was shot down and captured. But that might not appease Kallen. She was still a wild card; he had no idea how she would react, being the only one besides C.C. that knew the truth.

As he opened and shut the door to his quarters, he removed the mask and took a breath of fresh air as he set it down on the table next to the door, not even bothering to look behind him. At least, until he heard the loud "click" of a gun pointed at his direction.

"Turn around. Slowly..." a familiar, heated voice said. Lelouch's eyes widened as his eyes met blue, conflicted ones.

The wild card herself was sitting on the couch with her legs crossed, dressed in her Black Knights uniform and pointing a pistol right at his heart. Relief mixed with dread hit him all at once.

"Kallen..." Lelouch whispered, still in shock.

* * *

_-Review Replies-_

**_Guest:_ Thanks for the review! I'll certainly do my best to keep Heero in-character. Glad you think I'm doing well so far!**

_-Notes-_

**My apologies for the long delay, guys. In short, work took over my life for a couple months, then for the past month and a half or so, I've been incredibly lethargic and depressed when not working. Not sure why, but whenever I got free time, the last thing I wanted to do was to write.**

**So essentially, my muse died. I'm only now starting to feel like myself again, and I'm starting to think it's because of where I am. I'm ready to move on as I'm essentially living in the middle of nowhere, but my contract at work isn't up until March of next year. So I'm stuck down here until then/when I get another job offer that's closer to home. Thanks for your patience and understanding.**

**Also, thanks as always to all my supporters/reviewers/subscribers! Looking forward to reading your comments about this latest Mission! I've tried to reply to all reviews that were still sitting in my inbox, but if I missed you let me know. I'll have periodic chapter updates on my profile, so check on there every so often.**

**See you next mission,**

**-Sheik **


	8. Mission 07

"Results gained through contemptible means are worthless to me!"

-_ Suzaku Kurrugui, Honorary Britannian and devicer of the Z-01 Lancelot, 2017 a.t.b.  
_

* * *

**-Mission 07: Unraveling the Lies-**

**_Pacific Ocean, Black Knights Submarine _****Zouhan**  
**_July 19th, 2018 a.t.b., Imperial Calendar_**  
**_09:03 local time_**

Lelouch was frozen in place. An unfamiliar, uncomfortable emotion paralyzed his body—shock.

His mind worked frantically to process what he was seeing in front of him, along with all possible outcomes. Unfortunately, many of them ended with a bullet right through his chest...

_Is she really going to shoot? No, she wouldn't kill Zero...right? I can't Geass her, I already did! I didn't bother bringing my pistol, but even if I did, she'd fire just as soon as she saw me reach for the holster. Not to mention, I'd rather not hurt her if I can help it. Dammit!_

"K-Kallen," Lelouch managed, his voice shaky. "What are you—"

"Shut up," she growled, the laser sight on her pistol wavering slightly because of her trembling hand, though it remained firmly focused on his heart. His black, twisted heart.

"But—"

_"No,"_ Kallen said, standing up at her full height, keeping the pistol trained on him. Her finger was twitching and dangerously close to squeezing the trigger. "Finally, we're alone. No more interruptions. No C.C. around. No Black Knights to distract us. No Student Council—just us. We need to talk."

Lelouch used all of his willpower to quell the fear inside of him, forcing his voice to regain some semblance of authority. "And what would you, the one who abandoned Zero at Kamine Island, want to talk about with me?"

Her hand shook a bit more at his words. To her credit, she kept her tone steady and firm. "You know damn well what I want to talk about! You deceived me, right from the very beginning, you bastard!"

"In what way? About Zero being your classmate? Or my true intentions regarding your little terrorist cell?" he asked, feigning innocence. "Tell me, which one has offended you, Q-1?"

"Both," she gritted her teeth "along with that accursed power of yours. Using people like your personal playthings? You're no better than Britannia! You're a monster!"

Lelouch's lips curved into a smirk. "Come on, Kallen. You wouldn't shoot Zero, would you?" he asked, keeping his voice calm. He raised his palms, taking a tentative step forward.

She straightened up, finger curled around the trigger and ready to pull at a moment's notice. "_You son of a bitch!_ You're not Zero! I refuse to believe you of all people could possibly be that great man that nearly retook Japan single-handedly for us!" Kallen screamed, tears starting to form in her eyes. "I would have gladly died for that man. But he never existed, did he? You ordered us all to follow you with Geass, didn't you?"

Lelouch closed his eye with a smirk. _Looks like C.C. let her in on our secret._ "So that's what this is about, is it? My Geass power?"

Kallen ignored him. "I need to know, Lelouch. Did you use your Geass power on me like you did the others? Did you twist my mind...and my heart, and make me follow you like a mindless slave?"

He laughed, delighted in how the pistol shook more in her hands. This situation was turning more and more interesting by the second. "What does it matter?"

"It matters to _me_, Lelouch!" Kallen screeched.

"Relax," Lelouch said while walking toward her again. His tone grew more serious, all traces of amusement leaving his eyes. "Kallen...your mind and your heart are yours alone, as was your admiration and loyalty to Zero. The fact that you're even here now, pointing a gun at me and asking me these questions, should be proof enough."

She stepped back, her arms rigid as she started to squeeze on the trigger. "I said don't move!"

_"Kallen,"_ Lelouch purred, "you should be proud of what you did. You decided; you made the choice." He stepped forward until he could feel the cold steel of her pistol press into the fabric of his uniform, right where his heart was. "You chose..._Zero_," he finished, gently lowering the pistol with one hand. To his relief, Kallen didn't resist as he took possession of it.

She backed away from him, her eyes glassy with unshed tears. Despite having Nunnally as a sister, Lelouch still only had a basic grasp on the emotions of women (to his chagrin). But even he could tell his revelation had clearly upset her somehow. To his surprise, a part of him actually felt _guilty _for treating her the way he was. He'd only felt this guilty when he would lie to Nunnally about where he was going whenever he'd sneak out for a night of masquerading as Zero.

_Perhaps I'm being too harsh on her,_ he thought. _Would I have done the same thing if I were in her position? I suppose she does deserve some answers…_

"You don't believe me, do you?" he asked, his voice genuinely concerned as he clicked the magazine release on the pistol, letting the steel casing full of bullets clatter to the floor. He ejected the chambered bullet and placed the firearm next to his mask.

"I..." Kallen trailed off, gripping her fists tightly. Her eyes left the floor and focused on the enchanting Geass sigil that remained aglow in Lelouch's left eye. "I wanted to believe in Zero...so much that I'd become a slave."

"I see," Lelouch said solemnly. "If it helps, I've never considered you a slave, Kallen. Or the others in this organization, either. A means to an end, perhaps, yes. But never slaves."

"A 'means to an end?'" she spat, regaining her composure. "Then what are we to you, Lelouch? Resources? Allies? Pawns you can dispose of whenever you want in your own twisted chess game?"

That accusation actually stung, but Lelouch didn't dare let it show. He had to stay in control here; Kallen was still a danger to both of them in her unstable state. "You are my Q-1; the ace of the Black Knights, and the devicer of the Guren. Beyond that, you're Kallen Kozuki. My classmate, fellow Student Council member…and the smartest person I know besides myself. A simple pawn would never be worthy of such praise."

"Then if I'm that important to you, give me a straight answer! Have you ever used your Geass on me? No lies, no riddles. I want to know the truth."

Lelouch carefully pondered on his response carefully, again running all possible answers and their ramifications through his mind.

_What can I tell her? If she knows that I asked her about Shinjuku, then she could piece together everything else I've done! But on the other hand, she already knows who I am. Or at least, who Lelouch Lamprouge is. It's not like I'm telling her my reasons, or my true origins._

After what seemed like an eternity, he reached a decision. If C.C. trusted her enough to tell her about Geass, he would too. Besides, it's not like Kallen had ever given him any reason not to trust her. If anything, pulling a gun on him after all he'd done should have been expected.

"Okay," Lelouch said, taking a seat on the couch, gesturing to the space beside him. She took the other end of the couch, far out of his reach. She crossed her arms and kept her eyes narrowed and fixed on him, searching for any sign of deception.

"Do you remember Shinjuku?"

"Of course I do," Kallen said. "That was the first time we ever heard Zero's voice. We almost beat Clovis before the Lancelot intervened, and then he ordered a cease-fire..." she thought on that for a moment before figuring it out. "You really were the one who killed Clovis, weren't you?"

Lelouch nodded. "Why?" she asked.

"It really isn't important right now. Just know that I had my reasons besides saving you all," Lelouch waved his hand, ignoring the old guilt that he still felt when it came to remembering his foolish half-brother. "Do you remember when I approached you the day after?"

"Yeah," Kallen trailed off. "Wait, didn't we talk? I..." She scrunched up her eyes, as if trying to move something with her mind. "I can't remember."

"Of course you can't," Lelouch asked. "My Geass erased your memory."

_"What?!"_ Kallen exclaimed, jumping from the couch. "So you did use it—"

"—Let me finish," Lelouch raised a hand. Fuming, Kallen slowly sat back down. "When I use my Geass on a person, I need direct eye contact. Once a person is under its sway, I can order them to do whatever I wish. That is, within reason, of course. There are some restrictions such as time, location, materials available...things like that. It's called the Power of Absolute Obedience."

"Yeah, C.C. told me about that."

"I see. And did she tell you about the side-effects the victim can experience?"

"Stop stalling!" she interrupted. "What did you order me to do?"

Lelouch sighed, struggling to control his annoyance. "I was getting to that. Anyway, I wanted to know if you were the girl in the Glasgow from Shinjuku, so I ordered you to tell me. That's all."

"That's it?" Kallen asked, stunned. "That can't be all of it. Don't lie to me!"

"I'm not lying." _For once_, he thought. "I haven't used it on you since then. Even if I wanted to, I couldn't."

"Why not?"

He absentmindedly ran a hand through his raven hair. "C.C. doesn't trust people easily, so I suppose I can tell you if it'll put your mind at ease. But you must promise not to tell anyone else about any of this, okay? It'll start a panic, and we can't afford that right now. Not in the vulnerable state the Black Knights are in right now."

"Fine, I promise," Kallen said. "But only because I'm loyal to Zero."

"I suppose that's the best answer I could ask for," he smirked. "As I was saying, when I use my Geass on someone, they are under my complete control. They won't remember that I even gave them an order, but there are limitations. It requires direct eye contact. In addition, my Geass won't work a second time if I've already Geassed someone before, which is why you haven't been Geassed to forget anything you've found out just now."

"I see," Kallen said, trying to process what she was hearing. "So that's how you've been performing all of your miracles, is it?"

"Some of them," Lelouch admitted. "Geass is a useful tool, but not enough to turn the tide of a war like this by itself."

"Okay, but you haven't told me why you even became Zero. I mean, what _is_ all of this to you? Some kind of sick game? Do you even believe in our cause? Last I remember, you said the Japanese should simply bow our heads and let Britannia walk all over us!"

He chuckled with another arrogant smirk, remembering that day in the park when she slapped him. "I say many things for appearance's sake. You should know that better than anyone, _Miss Stadtfeld_." She gave him an evil look at that name. "It makes you wonder...what is my true mask? Lelouch Lamperouge...the simple schoolboy? Or Zero...the masked hero? Or perhaps...they're two sides of the same person?"

He let out a mirthless chuckle. "But why does it matter what my true reasons are? So long as Japan is free, my personal motivations shouldn't matter to you."

"Oh yeah? And what about Nunnally?"

That subject got his attention. "What about her?"

"Is she even really your sister? What does she think about all of this? Or was that whole _big brother _act at school another one of your lies?"

Her words struck a sensitive nerve within him. "Leave Nunnally out of this, Kallen," Lelouch growled.

"Did she even know what you were doing?! Who are you really, Lelouch?"

Before he could respond, he was saved by the intercom. _"Would all high-ranking members of the Black Knights please report to the conference room immediately for an emergency meeting."_

_Saved by the bell,_ Lelouch thought, relieved. "They'll ask questions if we're not there."

Kallen only nodded, anger still crackling in her eyes like lightning as Lelouch went to retrieve his mask. Before he could put it on, he felt a light tap on his shoulder.

"These are for you."

Lelouch turned around to see a sole, purple contact lens in Kallen's open palm.

"What's this?"

"From C.C. She said to give it to you and that it'd hide your Geass. Why she didn't do this herself is beyond me."

_Witch. I bet she planned this entire encounter,_ Lelouch cursed. _At least I won't have to worry about my Geass going wild again._ "Thank you," he said, grabbing the lens and carefully popping it in his left eye. Before he started to leave, Kallen grabbed his arm.

"Don't think you're off the hook, Lelouch. We're far from finished here," Kallen growled, her nails digging tightly into his arm. "But for now, just so we're clear, the only one I believe in is Zero. Just him, not you!"

He gently yanked his arm out of her grasp and placed the mask over his face, while Kallen gathered the pieces of her pistol.

"So long as you remain loyal to the cause, that's fine with me," he said with the mask's voice scrambler.

When the door finally closed, Lelouch released a breath he didn't even realize he'd been holding.

* * *

_**Unknown Aquatic Vessel  
**__**Unknown Date  
**__**Unknown Time**_

The only light illuminating the cell Heero was in was the laptop he was currently working on.

His calm expression would be misleading if anyone was around to see it. On the inside, he felt a mixture of different emotions. Confusion, astonishment, rage, frustration...all of that, and more. If these sources weren't fabricated (which was still a possibility), he really _was _in a parallel universe to his own. It took some time to trace where the timelines diverged, but once he did, things started to make sense.

The first thing he noticed was that the United States of America was never formed. History archival sites mentioned something called "Washington's Rebellion" that took place roughly around the same time period as the American Revolutionary War. Apparently, Benjamin Franklin, one of the Founding Fathers, was bribed by the Duke of Britannia with titles and riches and turned traitor. As a result, the American Continental Army led by George Washington was annihilated by Britannian forces, effectively ending the revolution at Yorktown.

There were other inconsistencies as well, such as Napoleon Bonaparte conquering the British Isles, forcing the monarchy to flee to the Americas and establish the Britannian line. Also, the British Isles were not conquered by Julius Caesar's Roman Empire in 55 B.C. The Celtics elected a strong leader, King Eowyn, who rebelled against the Romans. It was the same year where Britannia's calendar system, a.t.b. (or Ascension Throne Britannia), began, though it wasn't established officially until 1819 A.D.

Speaking of A.D., the year "2018" was deceiving. If Heero's estimates were correct, there was actually a 55-year difference between the "a.t.b." and "A.D." calendars.

_If that's right, and I'm in 2018 a.t.b...then that would make the actual year 1963 A.D_., Heero thought. Considering the technology this timeline had if that were the case, the improvements over his own timeline were most impressive. In his universe, the A.D. calendar was used up until the space colonies were created. At that point, the "After Colony" era began, and the years since then were used to record all future dates.

Though he was impressed with how far they had come in so short of a time, this world disgusted him, especially this "Holy Empire of Britannia." It was as if the Romefellar Foundation had taken over and enforced its will upon this version of Earth for centuries. As he visited archive after historical archive, Heero finally began to understand what exactly Zero had meant about his "heritage." It also explained why the guards at the prison had called him an "Eleven," despite only being half-Japanese on what he assumed was his mother's side. The man who he now believed to be his father was of European descent.

The entire world was divided up into three factions: the Britannian Empire, the Chinese Federation, and the European Union (though it was barely holding onto any of its territory while Britannia continuously put them on the defensive). Democracy was nonexistent; only monarchies like the Britannian Empire, socialism, and communistic governmental systems prevailed. Britannia practically had the entire world in its grasp. Heero watched with barely-suppressed anger as he accessed historical videos detailing Britannia's domination, genocide, and complete humiliation of the populations of other countries. Very few nations avoided falling into the jurisdiction of one of the three powers.

Then there was the civilian population. Stripped of their nationality, they were forced to become "numbers" as their entire nation was replaced with an Area number, reduced to mere beggars and slaves. Of course they could apply to be "Honorary Britannians," but it was merely a pacification ploy to placate the masses. Only Britannians of native or noble birth were treated humanely. Duke Dermail and his followers in the Romefellar Foundation would have been proud.

Worst of all the "Areas" was Japan, once considered a world superpower. In 2010 a.t.b. it was conquered by Britannia in less than a month during what they called the Second Pacific War. The reason? Control over a mysterious, natural material called Sakuradite (Heero was still trying to understand it, but this world considered it a prime energy source. Nuclear power had yet to be discovered). Thanks to those small, crude Mobile Suits called "Knightmare Frames," Britannia conquered the nation with hardly any effort and renamed it Area Eleven.

_Bastards_, he growled inwardly. He wanted to kill every last one of them, slowly and painfully. Especially their so-called emperor with his beliefs about human "in-equality" and that only the strong had the right to rule.

Memories from his own world flashed in his mind. It was the One-Year-War all over again—that same senseless, sickening practice of the strong preying on the weak. If these "areas" were the colonies, Britannia was the Former United Earth Sphere Alliance, OZ, and the Romefeller Foundation all wrapped into one sickening package.

_"Remember this for the future: a war without civility only gives rise to massacre_."

Treize's words echoed in his head. Though he was referring to Mobile Dolls at the time, Treize was still right. There was no civility here, only death and oppression on a scale that even the former OZ leader would be appalled at. It reminded Heero of why the Gundams were created and sent to Earth in the first place—to free the colonies from the tyrannical U.E.S.A. and the organization pulling the strings. OZ.

_This isn't my fight. There's no reason for me to get involved_, he thought. And why should he? This wasn't his world. His campaign as a Gundam pilot and a soldier ended once the last pieces of Libra disintegrated in his Earth's atmosphere. Here, his only objectives were to retrieve Wing Zero and find a way back to his own world. Even with Une running the Preventers, Relena still needed to be protected, not to mention he still needed to look into the MO-VI incident.

But he couldn't search for Wing Zero, not right now where he could be monitored. Their technology was still basic at best. No ventures into space aside from satellite launches along with basic mobile suit designs and communications. It made finding Wing Zero priority number one. He could only imagine what would happen if anyone were to get their hands on it. If his failsafe measures on accessing the cockpit failed somehow, this entire world would burn. It only took one ambitious madman to fall under the ZERO system's sway, after all.

He shook his head, not liking his current odds. Perhaps, in order to return to the After Colony-era, he'd have to involve himself after all, if only until he found Wing Zero.

_And yet... _Digital images of the slums in former Shinjuku, Kyoto, Tokyo, and other places in Japan only fueled his rage. He became a Gundam pilot to protect the weak and the innocent; to fight so they didn't have to; to make sure that all enemies in his path who facilitated the continuous circle of war, peace, and revolution would be eradicated forever.

But without Wing Zero, he couldn't fight a one-man war against them by himself.

_What about this Zero character, then?_ With renewed interest, he resumed searching for any and all traces of Zero (irony had a twisted sense of humor, all right) and his Black Knights.

_Britannia is clearly an enemy. But could these "Black Knights" become allies, at least for now?  
_

* * *

**_Pacific Ocean, Black Knights Submarine _****Zouhan  
****_July 19th, 2018 a.t.b., Imperial Calendar  
_****_9:58 local time_**

Eerie silence greeted Lelouch when he stepped through the doorway of the conference room. All conversations around the large table ceased, every set of eyes directed at him. Once again, Lelouch was thankful for the sanctuary the mask of Zero provided. Though it was heavy both figuratively and literally, the mask certainly had its perks.

All of this attention was somewhat unnerving. Many of them were relieved, others were in disbelief. Some, however, only glared daggers at him. On the other side of the table, he noticed Kallen and C.C. watching him; the former with narrowed eyes and her arms crossed over her generous curves, the latter with her usual indifference.

As soon as he stepped fully into the room, a barrage of questions arose.

_"Zero! You're really alive!?"_

_"What's our next move? Are we retaking Japan? What about all those extra recruits?"_

_"Where the hell have you been? Why did you leave us?!"_

Ignoring them, Lelouch simply raised a hand as he took his place at the head of the table.

"That's enough, everyone," he said, easily falling back into the familiar role of Zero. "One at a time, please."

"Zero," Chiba spoke first, her disgust plain for all to see. "We want answers! Why did you betray us in Tokyo? We wouldn't have gotten captured in the first place if it wasn't for you!"

"Yeah, don't you owe us an explanation?" added Asahina, his own eyes narrowed at him behind his glasses.

"We deserve to know why, as do Ioune, Yoshida, and the many others who died that day," Oghi said while the other Black Knights murmured in agreement. Zero again raised his hands for silence.

"Always remember, everything we do is for victory over Britannia."

Everyone looked at each other, dumbfounded. "Uhh...okay? Go on," Tamaki said.

"…That's all."

Gasps and murmurs again filled the room.

_"That's all you have to say?"_

_"No apology? Excuses?"_

_"What a joke! Admit it, you screwed up!"_

_**"Enough,"**_ Tohdoh boomed, silencing the room as all eyes fell on him. "Zero, I want an honest answer. Were your actions intended to give us a chance at winning?"

Of course, Tohdoh. I'm always focused on getting results," Zero replied.

Tohdoh nodded. "Very well. I out of all people understand the necessity of sometimes keeping our operations secret, but I feel I also speak for everyone when I say because of how severe our losses were during the Black Rebellion, your actions require more of an explanation than that."

Lelouch frowned behind the mask. This wasn't entirely how he envisioned this conversation going. In truth, he expected Tohdoh and Oghi to rally behind him simply because he was their only leader. A childish assumption, now that he thought about it. Human beings were naturally inquisitive animals. He was surprised Kallen hadn't brought it up earlier, but maybe finding out more about his Geass had been the main thing she wanted answers to.

_Perhaps that incident with Kallen clouded my judgment more than I thought, _he realized. _In that case, I suppose a version of the truth wouldn't hurt if it means their continued loyalty._

"Very well then," Zero began. "I'm sure you all remember that painful day far too well, so I'll spare you the details." He paused for dramatic effect. "I was deceived."

"Deceived?" Oghi interrupted.

"Yes, Oghi. Deceived. An inside source I was relying on for information lured me off the battlefield under false pretenses."

"What kind of pretenses?" Tohdoh asked.

"The kind that causes you to lower your guard," Zero said bitterly. _Suzaku..._"Q-1 followed me out of fear for my safety and witnessed my capture at the hands of some of the Emperor's best agents. She did exactly what I expected of her—she retreated."

He gestured to her. "Isn't that right, Captain?"

"R-right," Kallen stuttered as all eyes turned toward her. "I wanted to rescue him, but I was under strict orders to retreat and regroup with the rest of our forces. By the time I returned to Tokyo, it was too late."

"I see..." Tohdoh said. "And why did we have no knowledge of your presence on Kiriara Island, Zero?"

"I was ordered to be kept alive as a tool; a trump card the Emperor could play against anyone who dared oppose Britannia in the future. No one outside of the Emperor's own personal police force, the O.S.I., knew the truth."

Zero turned to face the entire conference room. "It was an unfortunate setback, but thanks to the heroic efforts of Urabe, Q-1, and the strike team, we not only regained a large number of our original members and freed some innocent victims of the Empire, but we now have another chance to retake Japan!"

Many cheers followed, but Chiba quickly silenced the room, eyes filled with suspicion. "Hold on a moment. I know it wasn't what you planned, but you still abandoned us. How do we know you won't do the same in the future?"

"He won't," Urabe spoke up from the back, smirking with his arms crossed. "I for one have believed in Zero from the beginning. Sure, he might have kept us out of the loop a bit, but it's not like he planned on the Black Rebellion failing. Am I right, Zero?"

_I'm surprised, Urabe. You've never shown such confidence in me before. Regardless, thank you for the olive branch..._

"Of course, Urabe. And I promise you all this: we _**will **_defeat Britannia! We _**will**_ establish the United States of Japan!" he bellowed, clenching a fist in front of him.

"But for now, we'll have to keep a low profile. It's to our advantage that Britannia has officially declared me dead. However, I fear that once the Emperor learns we've escaped, he'll double Britannia's presence in this area. It won't be easy, but we'll have to rebuild our forces first."

"But how are we going to do that?" Oghi asked. "Most of our stockpiles were destroyed during the Black Rebellion, and both Diethard and Rakshata disappeared. Not to mention Kyoto House is no more. The Knightmares we have in the hanger and the _Zouhan _are all we've got!"

"That will have to do for now," Zero said, though on the inside he was saddened when he remembered what C.C. had told him about the Six Houses of Kyoto. _Forgive me, Kirihara. I'll avenge you and the other houses when I free Japan. I swear, I'll skewer my father's head on a spike before I'm through!_

"And what about the extra volunteers we picked up at the prison?" Minami added. "We barely will have enough rations to go around for the next month, at best."

"We shall tackle that problem soon, Minami. Oghi, send a message to the radio frequency written inside," he said, taking a piece of paper out of his cloak and handing it to him. "If anyone else managed to escape capture, they will respond. Once I have a clearer picture of where we stand, I'll announce our next move. Until then everyone, get some rest. Oghi, I want to be notified as soon as you receive a response."

The leaders of the Black Knights nodded and went to leave before Tamaki stopped them. "Hold on, what about those two boys we found! They could be Britannian spies! We should get rid of them now-"

Zero cut the loudmouth off without any hesitation. "You will do no such thing, Tamaki. The Britannian student is called Lelouch Lamperouge, and he is one of our top informants and under my personal protection. Believe it or not, he rivals even me when it comes to strategic planning. If you see him, treat him as you would any other member of the Black Knights. As for the other, he is the reason why Kiriara fell to our attack in the first place. I'm not sure yet where his allegiances lie as he does have amnesia, but for now he's being kept under observation."

"Fine, but don't blame me if this comes back to bite us in the ass!"

"Noted," Zero said. "Now if you'll excuse me, I have much to do. We'll meet again soon."

A few more tried to ask questions, but Zero was already gone. Curiously enough, Kallen and C.C. had disappeared as well.

* * *

**_Bremerhaven, Germany, European Universe (contested)_**  
**_July 20th, 2018 a.t.b., Imperial Calendar_**  
**_13:06 local time_**

No matter how many times he tried, the end result was always the same. Every single operation in the Germany theatre had gone this way, it seemed.

This time, the Britannian forces under his command struck from the North Sea, using the break in the EU's blockade around the British Isles where the main forces continued to pummel them into submission with air to ground strikes. The first line of ships would launch missiles at the mainland along with older fighter jets while Sutherlands and Gloucesters would be deployed from landing craft that would appear on the beach. Soon, it wouldn't be necessary once the Float System was mass-produced.

He would always wait until the middle of the battle when the E.U. forces were significantly worn down. Of course, he hated wasting so many lives, but for now it was necessary. How could he offer surrender if the enemy still had the will and the means to continue fighting?

Today was no different, though it was much harder than usual for his forces to scale the cliff-side and secure the E.U. command center in the town of Bremerhaven. As the sun shined brightly above him, Suzaku smoothly guided the Lancelot Air Cavalry to land right in the middle of it all.

In a flash, the Lancelot touched down and the Panzer-Hummels came to a standstill, immediately turning from taking pot shots at Sutherlands in the distance to face him.

_"It's him! The Grim Reaper of Britannia!"_

_"The Lancelot! __**Scheiße**__, what do we do!?"_

_"There's a Knight of the Round here on the front lines?"_

Suzaku ignored their cries, instead activating an open comm. channel. "Surrender, you have no chance of winning. Anyone who throws down their weapons will not be harmed, I assure you. Please, don't throw away your lives."

_"How __**dare **__you, you Britannian dog!"_ a gruff voice bellowed, most likely the general in charge._ "We'll die before we bow to you. All forces, destroy him at once! He's only one Knight! Victory to the E.U!"_

"So be it. In that case, you leave me no choice," Suzaku sighed.

As the Panzer-Hummels approached in a line, weapons drawn, he immediately activated the two slash harkens in the Lancelot's arms, shooting them out in different directions so that they lodged onto one on each side. He pulled, knocking the grey, archaic European Knightmares into each other like dominoes.

He retracted the slash harkens and drew the Lancelot's twin Maser Vibration Swords, each blade glowing with a fiery inferno.

"Give up?" he challenged.

_"Fuck you! Light him up!"_

The Panzer-Hummels behind him fired their cannons and launched slash harkens of their own at him. He turned and easily cut through the lines, destroying several more Panzer-Hummels as they passed. Their screams filled his radio. He paid them no heed, even as each voice chipped away at the remaining bits of humanity buried deep inside him underneath his loyalty to Britannia.

Ever since she died, it was all he had left.

As they circled, Suzaku sheathed both MVS blades and activated the Float System. He grit his teeth as the Lancelot launched with lighting speed into the air, avoiding the fire from below with ease. While the system calculated targets, he drew the Lancelot's VARIS particle rifle. Emerald fire laced the battlefield, destroying Panzers left and right while the rest of his front line forces moved in and mowed down the stragglers.

_Just once, I wish they would take my offer,_ Suzaku sighed as he dove back into the fray, aiming for the command center. _Don't they know how meaningless it is to throw away their lives like this?_

* * *

**_Mediterranean Sea  
Britannian Naval Aircraft Carrier _****Majestic**  
**_July 20th, 2018 a.t.b., Imperial Calendar_**  
**_15:30 local time_**

Finally back in the safety of his personal cabin, Suzaku collapsed on the bed and relaxed. It wasn't nearly as nice as his personal quarters aboard the Avalon or in Japan, but it was still welcoming. Though air fortresses like the _Avalon_ were becoming more widespread, command decided to use older warships in the E.U. campaign to save energy and production costs.

He had been out on the front lines for the past month with Schneizel's forces, spear-heading a campaign to finally take down the E.U. Once they were eradicated, only the Chinese Federation would be powerful enough to stand against Britannia.

Part of Suzaku felt sick at the thought of more countries falling beneath the Emperor's boot, but the other part of him was convinced that this was the right thing to do. If the world was unified under one banner, war would cease to be an issue. He would rise through the ranks of the Knights of the Round until he became Knight of One. From there, it would be only too easy to become Viceroy of Area Eleven, where he could finally help his people rebuild and make Euphie's dream of a peaceful co-existence between Britannians and the Japanese a reality.

He would finally be able to help change the system from within, creating the world they both dreamed of.

_Euphie..._ Suzaku felt his eyes tear up at the thought of the pink-haired Britannian princess. There wasn't a day that went by when he didn't think about her gentle smile and the love he still harbored for her. A folded picture of the two of them, his memories and the badge forever marking him as her knight was all he had left.

Besides that, there was also pain. Pain, and rage. Rage against the man who murdered her. A man, in his mind, that was the embodiment of pure evil in this world. Him and that contemptible power of his.

_And to think I ever called him my best friend..._

Of all the people he thought could be under Zero's mask, why did it have to be Lelouch? Though his capture was the sole reason why he was now the Knight of Eight (the only Number ever allowed within the Knights of the Round), it still did nothing to bring Euphie back.

So, while the Emperor arranged things in Area Eleven and rewrote memories left and right so that Lelouch could be monitored safely at Ashford, Suzaku was ordered to the front lines, away from both of his friends in the Camelot organization, Lloyd and Cecile. Though he was on decent terms with the other Knights, he considered them more like acquaintances than anything. He missed the Student Council at Ashford as well. They, too, were also his friends.

_"Hey, Suzaku? You in there?"_

He groaned into the pillow. _Of all the people they could have sent, why did it have to be him?_

"One moment, Gino."

The brunette walked over to the door and unlocked it, coming face-to-face with the blond-haired, cheerful Knight of Three, Gino Weinburg. Though he was friendly enough, Suzaku found his overbearing charm to be...slightly annoying.

"Hiya, Suzaku! I finally found you!" he said with an easygoing smile. "Glad to see you're in one piece. I heard about Bremerhaven's capture today. Nice work out there!"

"Thanks," Suzaku said, forcing a smile. "But what are you doing here, Gino? I thought you were still in Pendragon?"

"I was, but there's been a change of plans," he replied, his voice suddenly becoming more serious. "He wouldn't say why, but the Emperor personally requested your presence immediately. Don't worry about the campaign. I'll be taking over from here."

_I wonder if it's time already,_ Suzaku thought grimly as he went to begin packing up his meager possessions. _I don't know if I'm ready to face Lelouch again just yet.  
_

* * *

_-Review Replies-_

_zero:_** Thanks, glad to be back! And don't worry, Heero will be thrown into the fray again soon. Believe me, I can't wait to have Britannia shaking in their boots, haha. **

_jhud: _**Hah! Yup, you caught me. I was wondering who'd catch on to some of the easter eggs I scattered in the last chapter. I admit, I took a few ideas from those franchises for this fic. While I'll stay as true as I can to the Code Geass world, some of the more original elements may originally be derived from other sci-fi series I've watched/read/etc. over the years.**

_-Notes-_

**I admit, I'm not the biggest Suzaku fan around, so forgive me if he's not written as well as some of the other characters. The story won't really follow him that much, but he will make appearances here and there, more so in the later parts. I will admit, though, that I had lots of fun writing the confrontation between Kallen and Lelouch. It's far from over between those two. Perhaps if she digs deep enough, Kallen will discover more about his reasons for waging this war..**

**Thank you for all the reviews I've gotten and for all the favorite/follow alerts I've received! If I didn't reply to your review this time around, please forgive me. I didn't anticipate such a long delay in-between missions and I lost track of the ones I replied to and the ones I didn't.**

**To be honest, my muse died for awhile. That combined with a small period of depression and pressures from my job all added up to me essentially just eating, sleeping, and working for weeks. So yeah, not fun.**

**That said, I do want all of you to know that I read every single review and fav/follow alert I receive, and I appreciate them all, good or bad!**

**Looking forward to hearing your thoughts on this mission! There will be more Heero involvement coming up soon. I can't say for certain when the next mission will be out, but I don't want to wait any longer than a month to post a new one. As always, I'll continue posting progress updates on my author profile page.**

**See you next mission,**

**-Sheik**


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